Legal Regime for Storing Human Organs and Tissues

With the development of biotechnology, the possibility of human organs and tissues acting as objects of various civil legal relations, including the subject of a storage agreement, becomes obvious. However, the legislation of the Russian Federation does not reflect the peculiarities of the legal regime of such relations generated by the unique features of biomaterials, as a result of which there is legal uncertainty and the risk of violating the rights of the depositor and the custodian.

Based on the conducted research, a conclusion is made about the need to identify a special type of storage agreement — storage of human organs and tissues. The author of the article has developed a definition of this agreement and formed its qualifying features. It is proposed to consider the subject of the agreement as the provision of services for the storage of human organs and tissues, the use of which is associated with their biological properties. The article provides arguments are given for securing the possibility of only a licensed medical or scientific organization to act as a custodian, the need to indicate in the agreement the market value and properties of biomaterials significant for storage, as well as the dependence of the storage period on the expiration date of the human body parts.