Clause 5 - Prohibition of activities without consent etc.
Human Tissue Bill
4:00 pm
Dr Stephen Ladyman (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health; South Thanet, Labour)
Again, I understand what the hon. Gentleman is getting at, and it bears repeating that we greatly respect the work that pathologists and others do, and we recognise the difficulties that they face and the worries that they have in this regard. I hope that I am able to clarify that our belief that the existing wording of the Bill is an adequate protection for them. It makes it clear that a reasonable belief that consent had been obtained would be a perfectly good defence were anyone to face sanctions under the legislation. If they were being asked to do something when they knew that consent had not been obtained, the criminal liability in the Human Organ Transplants Act 1989 would be a perfectly legitimate reason for them to refuse to do it. Both of those purposes are covered.
We also believe that were someone required by another person to do something that went against the provisions of the 1989 Act, the Bill would cover it. That person would in effect be committing a criminal activity. For example, if a supervisor in a laboratory required his PhD students to carry out work knowing that consent had not been properly obtained, the supervisor would face the criminal sanction. We believe that the wording in the Act is sufficient to guarantee protection for people in such circumstances.