A more and more obvious gap between the human spiritual development, which mostly stagnates, and often even regresses, and the technological development of society, which intensively and unstoppably grows, has been the initiation of numerous bioethical discussions that cover a wide range of topics, i.e. from a concern for a man and his health to a concern for nature and preservation of life in general. No matter the fact that numerous ethical discussions, which highlighted the last decade, have resulted with commonly accepted principles, several ethical issues were left without clear and unambiguous solutions. Within this context, the legal regulations expected to protect persons from unacceptable and harmful actions, but at the same time not to present an obstacle to scientific and technological development of society, have gained a special meaning. This is a significant challenge due to the fact that through statutory provisions we need to reach a balance between the freedom of scientific research and protection of a man. Although ethical dilemmas follow almost every field of human actions, bioethical contents are especially associated with the unimaginable technological achievements in medicine. Thereby, persons with mental difficulties, as one of the most vulnerable groups of patients, demand a highlighted bioethical sensibility within the meaning of humanity, understanding and enhanced awareness when ethically questionable medical procedures are applied on them, and especially when these patients are included in, sometimes even hazardous, biomedical researches. A basic protective mechanism for this category of persons in the Republic of Croatia is the Law on Protection of Persons with Mental Difficulties. The Law establishes a clear legal framework to proceed with actions designated for persons with mental difficulties, and certain legal provisions embodied within the Law could be considered a quite concrete answer to numerous ethical dilemmas. The analysis of these provisions discussed in this paper may be used as a relevant indicator of bioethical sensibility of the Law on Protection of Persons with Mental Difficulties. Sve očigledniji raskorak između duhovnog razvoja čovjeka koji uglavnom stagnira, a nerijetko i nazaduje i tehnološkog razvoja društva koji intenzivno i nezaustavljivo raste, otvara brojne bioetičke teme u širokom rasponu od brige za čovjeka i njegovo zdravlje do brige za prirodu i opstanak života u cjelini. Brojne etičke rasprave koje su obilježile posljednja desetljeća rezultirale su općeprihvaćenim etičkim načelima, ali isto tako su mnoga etička pitanja ostala bez jasnih i nedvojbenih odgovora. U tom kontekstu pravna regulativa od koje se očekuje da zaštiti osobe od neprihvatljivih i štetnih postupaka, ali i da istovremeno ne bude prepreka znanstvenom i tehnološkom razvoju društva, dobiva posebno značenje. Riječ je o velikom izazovu jer kroz zakonske odredbe treba postići balans između slobode znanstvenog istraživanja i zaštite čovjeka. Iako etičke dvojbe prate gotovo svako područje ljudskoga djelovanja, bioetički sadržaji posebno su vezani uz neslućena tehnološka dostignuća u medicini. Pritom, jedna od najranjivijih skupina pacijenata, osobe s duševnim smetnjama zahtijeva naglašeni bioetički senzibilitet u smislu humanosti, razumijevanja i pojačane osjetljivosti kod primjene etički upitnih medicinskih postupaka prema njima i osobito kod njihovog uključivanja u, ponekad i rizična, biomedicinska istraživanja. Temeljni zaštitni mehanizam za ovu kategoriju osoba u Republici Hrvatskoj je Zakon o zaštiti osoba s duševnim smetnjama. Njime je uspostavljen jasni pravni okvir za postupanje prema osobama s duševnim smetnjama te se neke njegove odredbe mogu smatrati konkretnim odgovorom na brojne etičke dileme. Analiza tih odredbi koja je predmetom ovoga rada može poslužiti kao relevantan pokazatelj bioetičkog senzibiliteta Zakona o zaštiti osoba s duševnim smetnjama.