We are printing in full the text of the Declaration of Hawaii, a Code of Ethics adapted by the World Psychiatric Association at its meeting in Honolulu in August 1977. The text is followed by a brief commentary from Dr Clarence Blomquist, the person responsible for drawing up the draft code. Dr Blomquist argues that the main function of a code of this kind is to supply general guidelines which will alert psychiatrists to the ethical problems and moral traps of their profession.