Country legislation
Parties are required to enact domestic legislation which will allow them to comply with the substantive provisions of the Santiago de Compostela Convention.
As such, the below country profiles have been prepared in view of imparting information and assessing the current state of implementation of the Santiago de Compostela Convention. It is nevertheless noted that they may not always reflect the official position of the countries in question or of the Council of Europe.
Belgium
- Law on trafficking in human organs and on the principle of non-punishment of victims of human trafficking [in French]
- Belgian Criminal Code [in French]
- Preliminary Title to the Code of Criminal Procedure (extraterritorial jurisdiction) [in French]
- Law on organ removal and transplantation [in French]
- Law on the procurement and use of human body material for human medical applications or scientific research purposes [in French]
- Law on medically assisted reproduction and the use of surplus embryos and gametes [in French]
- Link to the new dedicated section on organ trafficking, published on the website of the Belgian Federal Public Service (FPS) Justice [in French]
Czechia
- Czech Criminal Code as amended in 2023
- Czech Criminal Code as amended in 2025 [in Czech]
- Victims of Crime Act (Act No. 452013 Coll.) as amended [in Czech]
- Transplantation Act (Act No. 2852002 Coll.) as amended [in Czech]
France
- Correspondence table between the provisions of the Convention and the provisions of French law; Annex 1 to the Senate report on Law No. 2022-1032 of 22 July 2022 authorising the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs [in French]
- The main provisions of the Criminal Code relating to trafficking in human organs are contained in a section of the Criminal Code entitled ‘Protection of the human body’ [in French]
Norway
The Convention is implemented in Norwegian law by the Human Rights Act Section 2, the Transplantation Act, the Autopsy Act and the Norwegian Penal Code. According to the Transplantation Act it is forbidden to remove, insert or use human organs, cells or tissues to obtain financial gain or undue advantage, as well as to demand, offer, accept or give such gain or advantage.
- Norwegian Penal Code
- Transplantation Act [in Norwegian]
Portugal
- Decree-Law No. 168-2015 establishes a protection regime for living organ donors in the event of their death or permanent disability [in Portuguese]
- Law No. 36-2013-Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation into the Human Body [in Portuguese]
- Law No. 102-2019 incorporates the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention against THO [in Portuguese]
- Law No. 141-99 establishes the principles on which death verification is based [in Portuguese]
- Order 6537-2007 approves the rules for selecting donor-recipient pairs for homotransplantation using deceased donor kidneys [in Portuguese]
- Order_5975_2019 (Ministry Health)The 20th of July each year is National Organ Donation and Transplantation Day, dedicated to commemorating organ donation and transplantation [in Portuguese]
- Order_7215_2015_Funds for health institutions of the National Health Service to perform acts of harvesting and transplantation [in Portuguese]
- Regulation No. 498_2020 — Amendment to the Code of Ethics of the Portuguese Medical Association — exempts doctors from confidentiality in cases of suspected THO [in Portuguese]
- Resolution of the Assembly of the Republic No. 236_2018 - Approves the Council of Europe Convention against the Trafficking in Human Organs [in Portuguese]
Slovenia
- Act on regulation the procurement and transplantation of human body parts for the purposes of medical treatment (ZPPDČT) I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
- Act on quality and safety of human tissues and cells, for the Purposes for medical treatment (ZKVČTC) The Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, no. 61/07)
- Infertility treatment and procedures of biomedically-assisted procreation act (The Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, no. 72/2000)
Switzerland
Most important Swiss laws for the implementation of the convention:
