If an individual is personally unable to consent to a medical intervention on account of their age or lack of intellectual maturity, the proxy consent of a legal representative is required. In this context the legal representative is bound by the well-being of the person on behalf of whom consent is given. This is generally ensured in the case of medical interventions for diagnostic, therapeutic or preventive purposes. It is open to question, however, whether participation in a medical experiment is in the interests of the test subject's well-being. This is particularly doubtful if the experiment does not promise any direct medical benefit for the test subject, i.e. it will benefit others or the group of patients to which the subject belongs. In this situation the question arises as to whether the proxy representative is even entitled to give proxy consent.