ART: Authorities and the National Registry

In one line

The Act's substantive rules are about donors and embryos, and none of them can be checked unless somebody knows every clinic in the country and what it did.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: the Act is enforced through a National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Registry under sections 9 to 11, acting as a central database of all clinics and banks; appropriate authorities under sections 12 to 14 with the powers of a civil court; compulsory registration of clinics and banks under sections 15 to 17, with suspension or cancellation under section 18 and an appeal under section 19; and a power to inspect premises under section 20.

Why the law has this at all

The rules in the previous chapter are almost all numerical, and numbers are only enforceable against a record.

Section 27(4) says an oocyte donor may donate once in her life. Nothing in a single clinic's file can establish that she has not donated elsewhere. Section 27(3) says a single donor's gametes may not go to more than one commissioning couple, which is a statement about the whole country rather than about one bank. Section 28(2) limits storage to ten years, which requires a record that outlasts the storage.

Each of those is a rule that only a national database can police, which is why section 11 exists and why it is drafted as a database provision rather than as a reporting duty.

Sections 9 to 11: the National Registry

Section 9: the Central Government may, within ninety days from the commencement of the Act, by notification, establish for the purposes of this Act and the Surrogacy Act a Registry called the National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Registry.

Two things to note. The Registry serves both statutes, which is the second welding point between them. And the power is expressed as "may", with a ninety-day period, which is a weaker formulation than a duty.

Section 10: the Registry shall consist of such scientific, technical, administrative and supportive staff as may be prescribed, on prescribed terms.

Section 11 sets out its functions:

• (a) it shall act as a central database in the country through which the details of all the clinics and banks of the country, including the nature and types of services provided, the outcome of the services and other relevant information, shall be obtained on a regular basis;
• (b) it shall assist the National Board by providing the data generated from that database; and
• (c) the data shall be utilised by the National Board for making policies and guidelines and shall help in identifying new research areas and in conducting research.