The Human Tissue Act 2004 is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, that applied to England, Northern Ireland and Wales, which consolidated previous legislation and created the

Human Tissue Authority The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It regulates the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue for a number ...

to "regulate the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue." The Act does not extend to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

; its counterpart there is the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006.

Background

The Act was brought about as a consequence of, among things, the

Alder Hey organs scandal The Alder Hey organs scandal involved the unauthorised removal, retention, and disposal of human tissue, including children’s organ (anatomy), organs, during the period 1986 to 1996. During this period organs were retained in more than 2,000 ...

, in which organs of children had been retained by the

Alder Hey Children's Hospital Alder Hey Children's Hospital is a children's hospital and NHS foundation trust in West Derby, Liverpool, England. It is one of the largest children's hospitals in the United Kingdom, and one of several specialist hospitals within the Liverpool ...

without consent, and the Kennedy inquiry into heart surgery on children at the

Bristol Royal Infirmary The Bristol Royal Infirmary, also known as the BRI, is a large teaching hospital situated in the centre of Bristol, England. It has links with the nearby University of Bristol and the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the Wes ...

. A consultative exercise followed the Government's Green Paper'', Human Bodies, Human Choices'' (2002), and earlier recommendations by the Chief Medical Officer, Sir

Liam Donaldson Sir Liam Joseph Donaldson (born 3 May 1949) is a British doctor. He was formerly the Chief Medical Officer for England, being the 15th occupant of the post since it was established in 1855. As such, he was principal advisor to the United King ...

The Act

The Act allows for anonymous

organ donation Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin. Donation may be for re ...

(previously, living people could only donate organs to those to whom they had a genetic or emotional connection), and requires licences for those intending to publicly display human remains, such as '' BODIES... The Exhibition''. The Act also specifies that in cases of organ donation after death the wishes of the deceased takes precedence over the wishes of relatives, but a parliamentary report concluded in 2006 that the Act likely would fail in this regard since most surgeons would be unwilling to confront families in such situations. The Act prohibits selling organs. In 2007 a man became the first person convicted under the Act for trying to sell his kidney online for £24,000 in order to pay off his gambling debts.

Regulations

The following orders have been made under this section:
The Human Tissue Act 2004 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2005
(S.I. 2005/919)
The Human Tissue Act 2004 (Commencement No. 2) Order 2005
(S.I. 2005/2632 (C. 108))
The Human Tissue Act 2004 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2005
(S.I. 2005/2792 (C. 115))
The Human Tissue Act 2004 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2006The Human Tissue Act 2004 (Commencement No. 5 and Transitional Provisions) Order 2006
(S.I. 2006/1997 (C. 68))
The Human Tissue Act 2004 (Commencement No.5 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Order 2006
(S.I. 2006/2169)

Application

There is no official report on the number of restitutions that have been permitted under the Human Tissue Act 2004. In the United Kingdom, museums are not required to disclose such information. The table below therefore establishes a non-exhaustive list of human remains that have been restituted following the implementation of the Human Tissue Act.

Background

The Act

Regulations

Application

See also

References

Citations

Notes

Further reading