Draft Law No. 280 regulating post-mortem organ donation and amending Law No. 1.073 of 27 June 1984 concerning the removal of tissue from the human body for therapeutic purposes

Draft Law No. 280 regulating post-mortem organ donation and amending Law No. 1.073 of 27 June 1984 concerning the removal of tissue from the human body for therapeutic purposes (3 articles) was received by the Parliament on 3 June 2026.

Note: a draft law adopted by the Parliament is forwarded to the Government, which may either turn it into a bill or halt the legislative process.

SUMMARY

According to the explanatory memorandum to Draft Law No. 280, changes to the provisions of Law No. 1.073 of 27 June 1984 concerning samples that may be taken from the human body for therapeutic purposes, “[w]hich have been encouraged by the medical community (...) now appear to be essential”.

Draft Law No. 280 aims to:

• facilitate the collection of donor consent by establishing a national donor register. At present, consent can only be expressed by means of a will, or result from an authorisation signed in the presence of two witnesses before the director of an approved establishment.
• recognise the role of the family in the process of authorising post-mortem organ donations, in the absence of an expression of the deceased’s wishes.
• strengthen the protection of minors and persons under guardianship.
• enact the principle of anonymity between the organ donor and recipient to fill a legal loophole. Law No. 1.073 provides only for the separation between the medical teams that certify death and those that perform the organ removal from the donor.

Provisions of Draft Law No. 280

Expression of consent:

→ Amendment to article 2 of Law No. 1.073 (art. 1 of Draft Law No. 280):

• Distinction between the methods of obtaining donor consent: consent expressed during the donor’s lifetime; failing that, consent expressed by the family in the event of death (spouse, partner under a cohabitation agreement, or failing that, in the following order of priority, an adult ascendant or descendant, or failing that, an adult sibling).
• Creation of a national register for persons of Monegasque nationality or foreign nationals lawfully residing within the territory of the Principality: “a new alternative among the methods of obtaining donors’ consent during their lifetime, as well as for the withdrawal of such consent, in order to ensure easier and faster access to this system for them.”
  The National Council invites the Government (without making it mandatory in the draft law) to establish a digital register “to ensure the scheme is accessible to as many donors as possible, in compliance with current provisions on the protection of personal data, digital identity and security, whilst offering those less familiar with digital technology other ways to register on this register, for example by setting up a dedicated helpdesk within the relevant government department."
  
• Amendment regarding minors: introduction of the concept of a legal representative in place of “father and mother”, thereby covering all scenarios in which parental authority is exercised (“situations in which the minor is an orphan or whose parents have lost the right to exercise parental authority”).
• Amendment regarding adults under guardianship: introduction of the concept of guardian.

Conditions under which samples may be taken:

→ New article 3-1 of Law No. 1.073 (art. 2 of Draft Law No. 280):

• Establishment of the principle of anonymity between the organ donor and the recipient. No information enabling the identification of either the person who has donated a part or product of their body or the person who has received it may be disclosed.
• Exemption on grounds of “therapeutic necessity”. As is the case “in other European countries, the principle of anonymity must coexist with transparency and rigorous oversight of organ donation activities.”

→ Amendment to article 4 of Law No. 1.073 (art. 3 of Draft Law No. 280):

• Provision concerning the return of bodies from which organs have been donated. The costs of preserving and restoring the body following the removal procedure shall be borne by the establishment that carried out the removal. Furthermore, that establishment shall bear the costs of returning the donor’s body to their family, who shall not be required to incur expenses in excess of those they would have incurred had the removal not taken place.