Legal issues in organ and tissue transplantation

Organ and tissue transplantation is a treatment method that is seen as the last life hope of terminal patients (whose vital functions are expected to end within a certain period of time) and can be performed with the superior self-devotion of another person. It requires control not only by medicine but also by law, because it includes bodily integrity and must define the state of death. Therefore, with national and international regulations, organ and tissue transplantation is implemented within the framework of legal norms. Criminal law rules in organ and tissue transplantation from alive and dead person, are aimed at the prevention of organ or tissue trafficking and illegal transplantation. In the first part of our study, legal conditions of organ and tissue transplantation and the types of crime that may occur during this process are examined. Last part of the study has been focused on suggestions to increase organ and tissue donation in order to prevent the commission of crimes rather than punishing those who commit acts against organ and tissue transplantation law.