UK Act of Parliament 2004 United Kingdom

Human Tissue Act 2004

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At a glance

Enforced by

HFEA, HTA

What's here

18 compliance obligations, 4 practical guides across 2 topics · 1 journey

Penalty landscape

7 of 18 obligations carry imprisonment (3 years). 5 carry different penalties and 6 have no criminal penalty — flagged in the list below.

Who this Act binds

Business-side actors with duties under this Act, ranked by how often they appear.

  • Any Person 12
  • Trader 1
  • Director or Officer 1

Plus 4 non-business duties on Crown ministers, regulators, local authorities or tribunals — shown collapsed under each section below.

Step-by-step journeys using this legislation

Walkthroughs that take you from a real business situation to compliance.

Relevant guidance

Practical guides for businesses affected by this Act, ordered by how closely they engage with it.

Direct — cites this Act

1 guides

Supporting — topic alignment

3 guides

Other Acts binding the same actors

For each actor bound by this Act, the other UK Acts that bind them most often. Useful for understanding the full compliance landscape facing each role.

Any Person also bound by 749 other Acts (top 5 shown)
Traders also bound by 219 other Acts (top 5 shown)
Directors and Officers also bound by 224 other Acts (top 5 shown)

What this Act requires

Sections that create concrete duties on businesses or carry penalties. Procedural and definitional sections are folded into the “Browse other sections” expander at the bottom of each group. Click any section title to read the source text on legislation.gov.uk.

Part 1 — Removal, storage and use of human organs and other tissue for scheduled purposes

Browse 10 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement

Part 2 — Regulation of activities involving human tissue

s.015

General functions

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • HTA must oversee and provide guidance on human tissue activities Statutory regulator
s.020

Appeals committees

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • HTA and HFEA must maintain appeals committees for licensing decisions Statutory regulator
s.032

Offences under section 32 committed outside UK

Unlimited fine
  • Commercial dealing with human organs overseas Any Person
s.036

Annual report

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
  • HTA and HFEA must produce and publish annual activity reports Statutory regulator
Browse 17 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement

Part 3 — Miscellaneous and general

Browse 18 other sections in this Part — procedural / definitional / commencement

Schedules

Browse 6 other Schedules — structural / supplementary
Read the full Act on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab)

Official guidance

Authoritative sources published by regulators or government explaining this legislation.

Enforcement and responsible bodies

The regulators that administer or enforce this legislation.

HFEA

Primary

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Licences and monitors fertility clinics and research centres in the UK. Regulates the creation, storage, and use of human embryos and gametes.

HTA

Human Tissue Authority

Statutory regulator for activities involving human tissue and organs. Licenses establishments that store and use human tissue for purposes including research, transplantation, …

Explore more

Browse legislation

Find other UK business legislation with related guidance.

Regulators

Learn more about the bodies that enforce this legislation.