Transcript The legal perspective on the immoral demand and supply of

The legal perspective on
the immoral demand and
supply of organs
Conny Rijken
Tilburg Law School
Terminology
• Trafficking or trade in organs
• Never allowed for financial gain (except for Iran)
Article 21 –
Prohibition of financial gain
The human body and its parts shall not, as such, give rise to financial gain.
• Trafficking in human beings for the removal of organs
• Criminal act per se
• Many countries lack (sufficient) legislation
Trafficking or trade in organs
• Can be legal
• But illegal:
• By way of trading the organ, or
• By way of obtaining the organ
• The latter case can be trafficking in human beings for the removal of
organs
THB for the removal of organs
• Included in the Palermo Protocol
• In short: recruitment or transfer by means of force for the purpose of
exploitation
• Exploitation includes the removal of organs
• Note: not the forced removal
Example given by COFS Egypt
Coalition for Organ Failure Solutions researched organ trafficking in
Egypt from Sudanese migrants.
Three froms:
-
Induced consent
-
Coercion for removing organs
-
Outright theft
Paid donorship
• Prohibited f.i. by CoE Convention on Human Rights and
Biomedicine and EU Charter on fundamental rights
• Pro´s: increase donors, ultimate expression of right to freedom and
self-determination
• Con´s: vulnerable for illegal and criminal practices, and affects most
vulnerable in society, diminishes voluntary non-paid donorship
Negative consequences of paid
donorship
• Research in Pakistan: donors are those living in serfdom and debt
bondage with Zamindars (landowners)
• Research in India and Iran shows that marginalised people will more
easily donate
• Health consequences of donations underestimated
Parallel with prostitution laws in the
Netherlands
• Right to self-determination of the individual, right to freedom, agency
of women, right to work
• Practice: difficult to distinguish voluntary from forced prostitution and
organ donation
• Can people take a well informed balanced decision? Can we expect
them to be able to?
Conclusion
Trade in organs and paid organ donorship is a risky business,
difficult to distinguish from criminal practices such as trafficking in
human beings for the removal of organs, but certainly vulnerable for
such practices.