Government approves bills on amendments to two healthcare laws

The Serbian government today approved bills amending two laws in the area of healthcare - on human organ transplantation and on human cells and tissues - providing for the possibility for a person to declare during their lifetime that they wish (declaration of donation) or do not wish (declaration of objection) to donate their organs or tissues after death, as well as for the issuance of a donor card to a person who has made a declaration of donation.

According to the proposed amendments, a Register of Persons Who Wish to Donate Their Organs or Tissues and a Register of Persons Who Do Not Wish to Donate Their Organs or Tissues will be established, in which individuals' declarations of will regarding the donation of their organs or tissues after death will be recorded.

The proposed amendments clearly and precisely regulate the relationship between the will expressed during the lifetime of a potential organ or tissue donor and the will of their relatives, i.e. the scope of the relatives' rights, if the declaration of donation has not been given or has been withdrawn, and if the declaration of objection has not been given or has been withdrawn.

In accordance with the proposals, consent for the removal of human organs or tissues from a deceased person may be given or refused by a member of the deceased's family in the following order of priority: an adult child, spouse or common-law partner, parent or adult sibling of the deceased person.

If no family member acquires the right to give or refuse consent in accordance with the law, this may be done by the ethics committee of the healthcare institution.

The Serbian government also adopted the Decision amending the Strategy for the Prevention and Combating of Gender-Based Violence against Women and Domestic Violence for the period 2021-2027, which improves the system of prevention and protection from gender-based violence against women and domestic violence.

A system of mandatory supervision and psychosocial counselling for perpetrators of criminal offences in this field is being established.

The government members also adopted the Decree amending and supplementing the Decree on Establishing the Programme to Support the Improvement of the Development of Markedly Underdeveloped Municipalities (local self-government units in the fourth group) for 2026.