The Convention calls on governments to establish as a criminal offence the illegal removal of human organs from living or deceased donors:

• where the removal is performed without the free, informed and specific consent of the living or deceased donor, or, in the case of the deceased donor, without the removal being authorised under its domestic law;
• where, in exchange for the removal of organs, the living donor, or a third party, receives a financial gain or comparable advantage;
• where in exchange for the removal of organs from a deceased donor, a third party receives a financial gain or comparable advantage.

The Convention also provides protection measures and compensation for victims as well as prevention measures to ensure transparency and equitable access to transplantation services.

• Oviedo Convention and Protocols thereto (Biomedicine).
• Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197).
• Translations sorted by non-official languages.
• Note for information - Signature and ratification of the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs by a State which is not a member of the Council of Europe.

• European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare (EDQM)
• Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law - Bioethics
• Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law - European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC)