Towards a Council of Europe convention to combat trafficking in organs, tissues and cells of human origin

In the draft recommendation, paragraph 1, replace the words "preliminary draft Council of Europe convention" with the following words: "draft Council of Europe convention".

In the draft recommendation, paragraph 2, after the words “and use of tissues and cells”, add the following words: “, except for European Union directives on the matter”.

In the draft recommendation, at the end of paragraph 3, add the following sentence: “It will be possible to explain the convention more clearly with other additional documents, in particular the explanatory document to be appended to it.”

In the draft recommendation, paragraph 4, replace the words "preliminary draft convention" with the following words: "draft convention".

In the draft recommendation, replace paragraph 5 with the following paragraph:

"The Assembly underlines the utmost importance of protecting vulnerable persons, in particular persons deprived of their liberty and persons who are unable to give full and valid consent to an intervention for reasons either of their age (in the case of minors) or their mental incapacity. In this connection, it welcomes the provision in the draft convention defining any removal of organs without the free, informed and specific consent of the living donor as illicit. This is in line with the provisions of the Convention of the Human Rights and Biomedecine (Oviedo Convention), which prohibit any organ removal from persons who do not have the capacity to consent, thereby affording special protection to that group of persons. The Assembly notes that, while it is possible for States to reserve the right not to apply this article, such a reservation would be accepted only in exceptional cases and in accordance with appropriate safeguards or consent provisions under their domestic law. The possibility of making a reservation is intented to facilitate access to the Convention for States whose legislation is less restrictive than the principles set out in the Oviedo Convention in relation to consent, while respecting the fundamental rights of the persons concerned."

In the draft recommendation, paragraph 7, replace the words "the Assembly calls for the future convention to have the broadest possible geographical scope" with the following words: "the Assembly welcomes the provision made in the draft convention for its opening to signature by States that are not members of the Council of Europe, even prior to its entry into force, which will foster the broadest possible geographical scope".

In the draft recommendation, before paragraph 8.1, insert the following paragraph:

"include a provision whereby a human organ or a part thereof shall be defined as follows: a human body part that cannot regenerate and is essential to the integrity of the human body as a whole."

In the draft recommendation, paragraph 8.4, replace the words "for transplantation purposes" with the following words: "for transplantation or other purposes".

In the draft recommendation, delete paragraph 8.5.

In the draft recommendation, delete paragraph 8.6.

In the draft recommendation, replace paragraph 8.7 with the following paragraph:

"provide for an independent strong and effective Committee of the Parties assigned a clear function of co-ordination and monitoring on the basis inter alia of reporting requirements for the Parties; while entrusting the competent committees - the European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) and the Committee of Bioethics (DH-BIO) - with a role in supervising the convention's implementation."

In the draft recommendation, after paragraph 8.8, insert the following paragraph:

"call on those member States wishing to reserve the right not to apply the provision defining as illicit any removal of organs without the free, informed and specific consent of the living donor to instead revise their legislation in order to bring it into line with this provision and the Oviedo Convention."