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Kidney Theft and Self-Ownership

Hola Amigos,

Right, if somebody whips out your kidney that isn't theft, is it? It's section 20 GBH. But you can donate organs, so do you own them?

Will's aren't legally binding if they require a crime to be committed but nobody owns a corpse. In fact, nobody owns your body when you are alive (or, at least, you don't). So my question is, do you assert rights of ownership when you donate body organs?

Gracias

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 1

milktooth

i think intentionally stealing someones kidney is a bit more than s20 GBH

Reply 2

Prefect1992

Perhaps

I believe the donor card is designed to mark you as a candidate post-mortem.

However it is theoretically possible to donate an organ whilst alive such as a kidney although it would be illegal to take a kidney without consent.

Although impossible it is theoretically possible for the government to requisition your organs if appropriate legislation was passed, this however is somewhat implausible given the socio-political ramifications of such a measure even in the event of an emergency.

Simply put the "taking" of one's kidney without consent would probably lead to charges....

GBH perhaps at the least but most likely the responsible party would be charged with attempted murder/ murder

The illegal transplantation of any tissue or organ would most likely fall under the human tissue act of 2004.

https://www.hta.gov.uk/policies/human-tissue-act-2004

Reply 3

Rawkuss

Thanks for your response, I was just reading this article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/nhs/12026298/Organ-donation-Groundbreaking-law-change-in-Wales-means-all-adults-become-donors.html

It states that Wales has started a "Revolutionary new system will 'save hundreds of lives' in dramatic departure from current 'opt-in' process and will be closely watched by rest of UK". Everybody automatically opts in unless they opt out before death!

So the donator still has a choice, can't imagine ownership working like this for anything else.

Reply 4

Rawkuss

Original post by milktooth

i think intentionally stealing someones kidney is a bit more than s20 GBH

Well, what would you have it down as?

Reply 5

Rawkuss

"The law protects individuals’ rights to control the use of their bodies for medical purposes, even after death.18 It is by virtue of this right that the Human Tissue Act 2004 empowers an individual to appropriately say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to (consent to or refuse) organ donation. However, the traditional rule has been that the human body cannot be property. At common law it is well-established that there can be no property in a corpse.19 This means that a body or body parts cannot generally be stolen.20 "

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2948558/

And: "Although its status and legitimacy is explicitly recognized across the USA, elsewhere a more cautious, if not entirely negative, stance has been taken. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Human Tissue Act 2004, and in Scotland the Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006, are both silent in this regard."

Also: "It is often remarked, fairly glibly, that organs are public resources to be distributed by relevant agencies on behalf of the State."

Reply 6

Rawkuss

Scotland to introduce soft opt-out system for organ donation

Policy where patients are assumed to have agreed consent aimed at reducing the number of people waiting for transplants

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/28/scotland-to-introduce-soft-opt-out-system-for-organ-donations