Corneal Tissue Act 1986

1 Amendment of Human Tissue Act 1961.

(1) Section 1 of the [1961 c. 54.] Human Tissue Act 1961 (removal of parts of bodies for medical purposes) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (3), after " (4) " there shall be inserted " , (4A) ".

(3) For subsection (4) (removals to be effected only by registered medical practitioners) there shall be substituted the following subsections—

“(4) No such removal, except of eyes or parts of eyes, shall be effected except by a registered medical practitioner, who must have satisfied himself by personal examination of the body that life is extinct.

(4A) No such removal of an eye or part of an eye shall be effected except by—

(a) a registered medical practitioner, who must have satisfied himself by personal examination of the body that life is extinct; or

(b) a person in the employment of a health authority acting on the instructions of a registered medical practitioner who must, before giving those instructions, be satisfied that the person in question is sufficiently qualified and trained to perform the removal competently and must also either—

(i) have satisfied himself by personal examination of the body that life is extinct, or

(ii) be satisfied that life is extinct on the basis of a statement to that effect by a registered medical practitioner who has satisfied himself by personal examination of the body that life is extinct.”.

(4) After subsection (9) there shall be added the following subsection—

“(10) In this section ' health authority '—

(a) in relation to England and Wales, has the meaning given by section 128(1) of the [1977 c. 49.] National Health Service Act 1977;

(b) in relation to Scotland, means a Health Board constituted under section 2 of the [1978 c. 29.] National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978.”.