The Human Tissue Act 2004

Abstract

The Human Tissue Bill, described in Parliament as a'landmark Bill',' was introduced into the House of Commons on 3 December 2003 by Secretary of State John Reid, was brought to the House of Lords on 29 June 2004, completed its progress through the Upper House on 10 November 2004, and received the Royal Assent on 15 November 2004. It is due to come into force, for the most part, on days to be specified in commencement orders. Full implementation is not anticipated until at least April 2006, although transitional arrangements will be put in place. The Act will repeal in their entirety the Human Tissue Act 1961, the Anatomy Act 1984 and the Human Organ Transplants Act 1989 (except with regard to Scotland), and the Human Tissue Act (Northern Ireland) 1962, as well as making various other smaller and consequential amendments. The Act is principally a response to the furore generated by revelations about practices relating to the retention and use of human tissue in the Bristol Royal Infirmary2 (Kennedy) and Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool3 (Redfern) Inquiry Reports, and more latterly the Isaacs Report,4 in particular.5 These Reports catalogued local practices resulting in relatives, principally parents of dead children, lacking appreciation of subsequent tissue retention and use for research following (generally coroners')6 post-mortem examinations, often resulting in the burial or cremation of loved ones without the realisation that they were not 'complete', and some further burials or cremations of body parts.' It tran-