PRISTANAK DAVAOCA KAO USLOV DOPUSTIVOG UZIMANjA ORGANA SA UMRLOG LICA U SVRHU TRANSPLANTACIJE

Abstract

Harvesting the organs of the deceased is the primary source of procuring human organs adequate for transplantation. Therefore, the key issue that needs to be regulated in transplantation laws is the donor's consent for post-mortem harvesting of organs for the purpose of transplantation. In this paper, the author analyzes two dominant models of donor's consent in contemporary European legislation as a condition for permitted harvesting of the deceased person's organs – the model of express consent and the model of presumed consent, as well as the model of consent that has been adopted in Serbian law. The author's interest also revolves around other potential solutions: the mixed model, the system in which the harvesting of organs is justified by the necessity in emergency situations and the concept of mandatory choice. In this paper the author points to the advantages and weaknesses of each model and reviews how the regulations tackle the issue whether the lack of donor's consent for post-mortem harvesting of his organs can be replaced with the consent of family members. In the concluding remarks, the author presents the arguments why the models of express consent is a more acceptable option and argues that the choice of the donor's consent model is not crucial for increasing the number of organ donors, but rather the action coming from several levels aimed at raising the awarness of citizens of the significance of organ donation.