New developments in the international fight against trafficking in human organs: The Convention of Santiago de Compostela

Abstract

Scientific advances in recent decades and to certain diseases have spread therapies using transplantation of human organs. This increase in the number of transplants and the demand for transplants is facing a progressive shortage of available organs. In this context, there have been illegal activities such as trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal of organs and trafficking in human organs that are considered a violation of human rights and a serious threat to individual health and public health. The international fight against this criminal phenomenon has been the subject of a new international legal development through recent Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs, adopted in Santiago de Compostela on 25 March 2015. This study addresses a general approach on international cooperation and international law in the field of transplantation of organs and organ trafficking and focuses on the work of the Council of Europe, especially in the scope and content of the new Convention.