General
Section 47: Power to give effect to Community obligations
61.This section contains a power to amend the Act at a later date by regulations subject to the affirmative procedure in order to implement Community obligations in relation to human material. This section has in view Directive 2004/23/EC of 31 March 2004 on setting standards of quality and safety for the donation, procurement, testing, processing, preservation, storage and distribution of human tissues and cells, which is due to be implemented by 7 April 2006. The power in this section will allow any necessary amendments to be made to the Act by regulations.
Section 47: Power to de-accession human remains
62.This section confers a power upon the bodies listed in subsection (1) ('listed institutions') to de-accession human remains.
63.Subsection (2) enables listed institutions to transfer human remains from their collections if it appears to them appropriate to do so for any reason whether or not it relates to their other functions. The power only applies to human remains which are reasonably believed to be of a person who died less that 1,000 years before this section comes into force.
64.Subsection (3) provides that if it appears to a listed institution that human remains are mixed or bound up with non-human material and it is undesirable or impracticable to separate them, the power to de-accession the human remains extends also to the associated non-human material. This has the effect of enabling artefacts such as mummies (where non-human material is integral to the human remains) to be de-accessioned intact. The provision does not extend to grave chattels that are buried with but are separate from human remains found in a grave.
65.Subsection (4) provides that the power contained in subsection (2) does not affect any trust or condition subject to which a listed institution may hold human remains.
Section 48: Powers of inspection, entry, search and seizure
66.This section gives effect to Schedule 5, which provides a power for persons authorised by the HTA to inspect certain records, enter, search and inspect premises and seize things on the premises in connection with the HTA’s regulatory functions.
Section 50: Prosecutions
67.This section specifies that proceedings regarding offences relating to appropriate consent, commercial dealing in tissue and payment for transplants will be instituted only with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Section 58: Transition
68.This section provides for the fact that the maximum penalties in the Act reflect the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Until such time as the relevant provisions of the 2003 Act are in force, the maximum penalties are to be read as those which apply under the law currently in force.
