[Legal questions in organ transplantation from living donors]

From the perspective of the German legal system it is clear that the donation of organs by living donors should be the exception, but cadaver donors the rule. Nevertheless, the legislature has deemed it necessary to regulate the organ donation of living donors. Without a great lot of political debate requirements have been established for these donors and criminal provisions created prohibiting the dealing with human organs. This paper will first address the question on how the current legislation came about and whether a statutory rule was even necessary. An in-depth analysis of the statute will follow in which open questions and ambiguities of the text will be explained.