Jesse Wall
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198727989
- eISBN:
- 9780191794285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198727989.003.0007
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter aims to identify the particular structure of rights and duties that ought to apply to the use and storage of bodily material. This requires an assessment of whether the rights that arise ...
More
This chapter aims to identify the particular structure of rights and duties that ought to apply to the use and storage of bodily material. This requires an assessment of whether the rights that arise in items of bodily material are conceptually consistent with property rights. It is argued here that a right in bodily material that is in-itself is conceptually consistent with property rights and therefore such rights ought to obtain the legal structure of property rights. However, rights in bodily material that is for-itself or for-others are exclusive but non-contingent rights. In addition, insofar as these items of bodily material are self-ascribed, such rights are ambiguous. Rights in bodily material that is for-itself or for-others therefore ought to adopt a structure that is akin to the common law right to privacy. Hence, the law ought to develop a dualist approach to the legal status of bodily material.Less
This chapter aims to identify the particular structure of rights and duties that ought to apply to the use and storage of bodily material. This requires an assessment of whether the rights that arise in items of bodily material are conceptually consistent with property rights. It is argued here that a right in bodily material that is in-itself is conceptually consistent with property rights and therefore such rights ought to obtain the legal structure of property rights. However, rights in bodily material that is for-itself or for-others are exclusive but non-contingent rights. In addition, insofar as these items of bodily material are self-ascribed, such rights are ambiguous. Rights in bodily material that is for-itself or for-others therefore ought to adopt a structure that is akin to the common law right to privacy. Hence, the law ought to develop a dualist approach to the legal status of bodily material.
Jesse Wall
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198727989
- eISBN:
- 9780191794285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198727989.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This chapter aims to identify two ‘conceptual’ features of property rights and then consider how these features align with the right to bodily integrity. Property rights enable the rights-holder to ...
More
This chapter aims to identify two ‘conceptual’ features of property rights and then consider how these features align with the right to bodily integrity. Property rights enable the rights-holder to exclude others from an object or resource, which thereby preserves an open-ended set of activities with regards to the object or resource. Property rights also enable preferences and choices that can exist independently of the particular rights-holder. The right to bodily integrity is akin to property rights insofar as the right is also an exclusive right, but differs from property rights as the right to bodily integrity enables preferences and choices that cannot exist independently of the rights-holder. The extent to which the right to bodily integrity differs from property rights in this regard depends on the (first-person or third-person) perspective of the body.Less
This chapter aims to identify two ‘conceptual’ features of property rights and then consider how these features align with the right to bodily integrity. Property rights enable the rights-holder to exclude others from an object or resource, which thereby preserves an open-ended set of activities with regards to the object or resource. Property rights also enable preferences and choices that can exist independently of the particular rights-holder. The right to bodily integrity is akin to property rights insofar as the right is also an exclusive right, but differs from property rights as the right to bodily integrity enables preferences and choices that cannot exist independently of the rights-holder. The extent to which the right to bodily integrity differs from property rights in this regard depends on the (first-person or third-person) perspective of the body.
