The Human Tissue Act 2004: Innovative Legislation – Fundamentally Flawed or Missed Opportunity?

Abstract

In November 2004 Royal Assent was finally given to the Human Tissue Act which was passed in response to the organ retention scandals at Alder Hey hospital and other hospitals around the UK. At first glance it may appear to set many of the concerns raised in the Bristol Interim Inquiry and Alder Hey Inquiry to rest. But on closer inspection a more complex position emerges. The paper examines the extent to which it can be regarded as a groundbreaking piece of legislation clarifying a notoriously uncertain area of law or whether in the long term it will be viewed as a fundamentally flawed Act and a missed opportunity.