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Double Prosecution of Illicit Organ Removal as Organ Trafficking and Human Trafficking, with the Example of Belgium

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Abstract

In 2015 the Council of Europe introduced a new criminal law convention to address organ trafficking. The main focus of the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs is the crime of illicit organ removal. The act of illicit organ removal is also criminalised under international human trafficking instruments that consider it as a form of exploitation of a living organ donor. As both legal frameworks rely on two key concepts to determine if the respective crimes occurred, namely, valid consent to organ removal and the presence of monetary benefits, a clear overlap exists when an organ is removed from a living donor. The question arises as to whether the illicit organ removal, based on the same factual circumstances and material evidence, is sufficiently distinct for an offender to be prosecuted under both regimes simultaneously or in separate criminal proceedings, without violating the principle of ne bis in idem. This paper aims to answer that question by (1) examining the crime of illicit organ removal under both criminal regimes and (2) analysing Belgian criminal law frameworks on human trafficking and organ trafficking in the context of the applicability of the principle of ne bis in idem as developed by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. This analysis reveals the complexity of the issue. It also confirms the proximity of the legal definitions of both types of crimes, resulting in a considerable overlap and a clear risk of double prosecution and punishment. On the basis of these findings, recommendations are formulated on how to harmonise the application of both trafficking frameworks so as to minimise that risk.

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Notes

  1. For example, the Medicus Clinic case involved an international network of transplant surgeons, anaesthesiologists, other healthcare professionals, and brokers. From 2006 to 2008, this network recruited approximately 30 individuals from Moldova, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus through coercion and false promises and transported them to the Medicus clinic, a private clinic in Pristina, Kosovo, for illicit kidney removal. There, a Turkish surgeon removed the kidneys and transplanted them into recipients coming from Canada, Germany, Israel, Poland, and the USA. In 2010, the EU Special Prosecution Office in Kosovo brought the case before court, resulting in 2013 in five convictions for human trafficking. The convictions against the two main defendants were upheld by the Court of Appeals in 2015. Pursuant to a decision of Kosovo’s Supreme Court, a retrial was held in 2017, again resulting in convictions for human trafficking before the District Court. However, in 2018 the Court of Appeals cancelled that judgement and ordered a second retrial.

  2. See, for instance, State v. Netcare Kwa-Zulu Limited (South Africa), Medicus Clinic (Kosovo), Shalimov Institute (Azerbaijan & Ukraine), and more recent cases in Costa Rica, Egypt, Israel, and Spain (Council of Europe/United Nations 2009; López-Fraga et al. 2017; Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) 2013; Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe 2019).

  3. It should be noted that there is one exception, Iran, where a centrally organised organ market is in place.

  4. In some countries the counter-trafficking instruments do not include organ removal as a form of exploitation (e.g., the USA) or, alternatively, organ removal is introduced as an aggravating circumstance (e.g., Belgium) (Allain 2014).

  5. Note that abuse of a position of vulnerability refers to “any situation in which the person involved has no real and acceptable alternative but to submit to the abuse.” (See United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2013).

  6. The Court of Justice ruled that Article 54 CISA must be interpreted in the light of Article 50 (CJEU 29.06.2016, C-486/14, Kossowski), and it was concluded that differences, especially with regard to the enforcement criteria, are compatible with Article 50 (CJEU 27.05.2014, C-129/14 PPU, Spasic).

  7. For example, consider the hypothetical case in which a person is prosecuted for the removal of organs, but the criminal court judge establishes that due to common intent, these acts constitute the extension of other acts that have previously been qualified as human trafficking and for which the accused has received a prior definitive conviction.

  8. It should be noted that in accordance with Article 99bis of the Criminal Code, Article 65, §2, of the Criminal Code only applies to convictions passed by Belgian criminal courts. The Belgian Constitutional Court has ruled that this does not violate the principle of equality before the law (Constitutional Court 16.01.2020, 6/2020 & 8/2020).

  9. The Contracting Parties to the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

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Funding

Sylwia Gawronska acknowledges financial support from the Special Research Fund (BOF) of the University of Antwerp.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Group Personal Rights & Property Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Sylwia Gawronska & Kristof Van Assche

  2. Research Group Law & Enforcement, Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Laurens Claes

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  1. Sylwia Gawronska
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  2. Laurens Claes
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  3. Kristof Van Assche
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We declare that all authors have made a substantial contribution to the research and to the drafting of the manuscript. This manuscript has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. We declare that all authors have agreed to its submission.

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Correspondence to Sylwia Gawronska.

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Gawronska, S., Claes, L. & Van Assche, K. Double Prosecution of Illicit Organ Removal as Organ Trafficking and Human Trafficking, with the Example of Belgium. Eur J Crim Policy Res 28, 503–524 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-020-09466-z

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