ABSTRACT
In France, a 1994 law prohibits donation by adults who are the subject of legal protection measures. This is supplemented by a general requirement for consent which would indirectly restrict donation to persons with sufficient competence. In Portugal liver segment appears to be the only organ that an incompetent adult can donate. Regenerative materials as a whole can be donated but this is subject to court authorisation. The Canadian Uniform Human Tissue Donation Act 1990 requires an independent assessment to be made where such donation by an incompetent adult is proposed. The most useful precedents are US adult incompetent organ donation cases. Many transplant laws have missed the opportunity to comprehensively address the issue of adult incompetent donation. Any opportunities to remedy this position should be taken since legislation would provide greater transparency and, potentially, greater certainty. A wider point that can be raised is about the way the views of the incompetent adult are elicited.
