New law will regulate organ donation, criminalize organ trafficking

A new law will regulate the donation of organs, rendering people's express wishes to become organ donors legally binding.

It will also criminalize the trafficking and sale of human organs for financial gain. 

Addressing a press conference to launch the Bill that will eventually be debated in Parliament, health parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne said that the Superintendent of Public Health will be tasked with maintaining a National Human Organ And Tissues Donation Register. 

People will be able to register the organs they would like or not like to donate, and unlike the current donor card system, the register will be legally-binding. People will be able to amend their organ donation wishes at any time during their lifetime. 

Only residents of Malta older than 16 who don't suffer from a mental disorder can volunteer their names for this list. In the case of death of a person not on the register of of a person younger than 16, the person's relatives will get to make the decision on whether their organs should be donated or not.