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The H uman T ransplantation ( W ales) A ct 2013: an Act of Encouragement, not Enforcement
Author(s) -
Douglas James F.,
Cronin Antonia J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the modern law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1468-2230
pISSN - 0026-7961
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2230.12117
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , duty , donation , organ donation , interpretation (philosophy) , statutory law , enforcement , law , business , advertising , transplantation , medicine , political science , history , surgery , computer science , archaeology , programming language
The H uman T ransplantation ( W ales) A ct became law in W ales in S eptember 2013. The A ct aims to increase deceased donor organ and tissue donation in W ales by introducing a ‘soft opt‐out’ system to replace the previous requirement of express ‘appropriate’ consent under the H uman T issue A ct 2004. Adults dying in W ales (with certain exceptions) will be ‘deemed’ to consent to donation, unless evidence of their objection is produced, and a duty is imposed on M inisters to promote transplantation and inform the public through awareness campaigns about how to choose the deemed status or opt out. Although a welcome development, these campaigns may obscure the effects of deemed consent, especially in the context of generally rising UK donation rates. There may also be problems of legal interpretation and of integration with the ‘opt‐in’ laws in the rest of the UK . In the absence of any statutory duty to retrieve all lawfully donated organs, the apparently restricted influence of donor relatives is likely to remain effectively dominant.