French Public Health Code
In forceI - The removal of organs from a living person who donates them may only be carried out in the direct therapeutic interest of a recipient. The donor must be the father or mother of the recipient.
Notwithstanding the first paragraph of this I, the following persons may be authorised to donate an organ in the direct therapeutic interest of a recipient: the recipient's spouse, brothers or sisters, sons or daughters, grandparents, uncles or aunts, first cousins and the spouse of the recipient's father or mother. The donor may also be any person who can provide proof of having lived with the recipient for at least two years, as well as any person who can provide proof of a close and stable emotional relationship with the recipient for at least two years.
II - In the event of incompatibility between a person who has expressed an intention to donate and a person in whose interest the removal may be carried out in application of I, making transplantation impossible, the potential donor and recipient may be offered the possibility of cross-donation of organs. In this case, the maximum number of consecutive pairs of donors and recipients is limited to six.
Cross-organ donation consists of a potential recipient benefiting from the donation of another person who has expressed an intention to donate and who is also incompatible with the person in whose interest the removal may be carried out in application of I, while the latter benefits from the donation of another donor.
In order to increase the possibilities of matching donors and recipients involved in cross-donation and to replace the removal of one of the living donors, an organ removed from a deceased person may be used, under the conditions set out in Article L. 1232-1.
If the removal from a donor or the graft from a recipient fails, the Agence de la biomédecine is informed without delay and applies the allocation rules referred to in Article L. 1231-1 B that are most favourable to the recipient in the light of his or her situation.
When a cross-donation is implemented, all the removal operations take place within a maximum period of twenty-four hours. Transplant operations are carried out consecutively to each donation. Anonymity between donor and recipient is guaranteed.
III - The donor, who has been informed in advance by the committee of experts referred to in article L. 1231-3 of the risks involved, the possible consequences of the removal and, where applicable, the procedures for cross-donation, must express his consent to the donation and, where applicable, to the cross-donation before the president of the judicial court or the magistrate appointed by him, who will first ensure that the consent is free and informed and that the donation complies with the conditions laid down in the first and second paragraphs of I and, where applicable, II. In the event of a life-threatening emergency, consent is obtained by any means by the public prosecutor. Consent may be revoked without formality and at any time.
IV - Authorisation to take a sample from a person referred to in the second paragraph of I is issued, after consent has been expressed, by the committee of experts referred to in article L. 1231-3.
Withdrawals from the persons mentioned in the first paragraph of I may also, except in the event of a life-threatening emergency, be subject to authorisation from this committee when the magistrate responsible for obtaining consent considers it necessary.
The Agence de la biomédecine (Biomedicine Agency) is informed prior to any organ removal for therapeutic purposes from a living person.
V.-The Government shall submit a report to Parliament every four years on the application of this article, and in particular the derogations authorised under the second paragraph of I.
