The Corneal Tissue (Northern Ireland) Order 1988

Statutory Instruments

1988 No. 1844 (N.I. 14)

NORTHERN IRELAND

The Corneal Tissue (Northern Ireland) Order 1988

Made

26th October 1988

Coming into Operation

27th December 1988

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 26th day of October 1988

Present,

The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council

Whereas a draft of this Order has been approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament:

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Act [1974 c. 28] 1974 and of all other powers enabling Her in that behalf, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—

Title and commencement

1.   This Order may be cited as the Corneal Tissue (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 and shall come into operation on the expiration of two months from the day on which it is made.

Interpretation

2.   The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) [1954 c. 33 (N.I.)] 1954 shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Amendment of Human Tissue Act (Northern Ireland) 1962

3.   In section 1 of the Human Tissue Act (Northern Ireland) [1962 c. 19 (N.I.)] 1962 (removal of parts of bodies for medical purposes)—

(a) in subsection (3) after “(4)” there shall be inserted “, (4A)”; and

(b) for subsection (4) (removals to be effected only by registered medical practitioners) there shall be substituted the following subsections—

“(4) No such removal, except of eyes or parts of eyes, shall be effected except by a registered medical practitioner, who must have satisfied himself by personal examination of the body that life is extinct.

(4A)  No such removal of an eye or part of an eye shall be effected except by—

(a) a registered medical practitioner, who must have satisfied himself by personal examination of the body that life is extinct; or

(b) a person in the employment of a health and social services board acting on the instructions of a registered medical practitioner who must, before giving those instructions, be satisfied that the person in question is sufficiently qualified and trained to perform the removal competently and must also either—

(i) have satisfied himself by personal examination of the body that life is extinct, or

(ii) be satisfied that life is extinct on the basis of a statement to that effect by a registered medical practitioner who has satisfied himself by personal examination of the body that life is extinct.”.

G. I. de Deney

Clerk of the Privy Council

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Human Tissue Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 to permit the removal of eyes or parts of eyes for therapeutic purposes or purposes of medical education and research by persons who are not medically qualified acting on the instructions of a registered medical practitioner.