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Durham E-Theses Is My Body My Property? A Proposal for the Recognition of Property Rights over Bodily Materials EDITHA, AILEEN How to cite: EDITHA, AILEEN (2021) Is My Body My Property? A Proposal for the Recognition of Property Rights over Bodily Materials, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/13870/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Is My Body My Property? A Proposal for the Recognition of Property Rights over Bodily Materials Aileen Editha A thesis submitted for the Degree of Master of Jurisprudence Durham Law School Durham University November 2020 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author’s prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Untuk keluargaku, yang selalu mendukungku dan mendorongku untuk menjadi lebih baik. Terima kasih untuk segalanya. Abstract Although it seems axiomatic that a person should own her body, the law in England and Wales is less straightforward. The “no property” rule, which emerged as an obiter dictum in Hayne’s Case (1614), still stands today. This principle seems incompatible with medical and scientific advances which treat bodily materials as valuable commodities, and the increased societal and legal recognition of principles of autonomy and self-determination. Consequently, the law has strenuously attempted to reconcile these two by creating common law exceptions such as the “work and skill” exception (rooted in Lockean- Nozick labour theory) and the so-called Yearworth exception. However, there is an absence of a fundamental principle underlying the law’s current approach. This thesis proposes a widening of the definition of “ownership” by adopting the rule- preclusionary conception. First advanced by Beyleveld and Brownsword, the rule-preclusionary conception recognises that I, as a subject, have exclusive control over my body and bodily materials, and I am precluded from having to justify what I do with them on a case-by-case basis. This principle is sufficiently fundamental and rudimentary which can then be used in conjunction with other conceptions such as the “bundle of rights” theory. This thesis provides a two-fold retrospective and prospective argument in support of this. The former argues that the current legal framework already implicitly recognises rule-preclusionary ownership, whereas the latter argues that explicit recognition of property rights provides an attractive solution to prominent problems in the wider medical field. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ iii Table of Legislation ............................................................................................................................... iv Table of Cases ......................................................................................................................................... v England and Wales ......................................................................................................................... v European Court of Human Rights ................................................................................................... v Court of Justice of the European Union .......................................................................................... v United States of America ................................................................................................................ v Australia ......................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 Aims ................................................................................................................................................ 1 Structure .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 2 The Complex Relationship between Us and Our Bodies ....................................................... 4 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 4 The Issue of Terminology ................................................................................................................... 7 Ownership ......................................................................................................................................... 10 Ownership as a Fundamental Concept .......................................................................................... 11 Self-Ownership ............................................................................................................................. 13 Ownership of External Things ...................................................................................................... 19 Rights Arising from Ownership ........................................................................................................ 21 Ownership vs Non-Ownership Rights .......................................................................................... 22 Bodily and Proprietary Ownership ............................................................................................... 23 Property Rights ................................................................................................................................. 25 The Problems of Property ............................................................................................................. 26 Conceptions of Property................................................................................................................ 27 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 34 Chapter 3 The Retrospective Recognition of Property Rights .............................................................. 35 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 35 Consent-Based Legal Framework and the Opt-Out System ............................................................. 36 The 2004 Act ................................................................................................................................. 36 Living Donors ............................................................................................................................... 37 Deceased Donors .......................................................................................................................... 38 The “No Property” Rule and Its Strained Exceptions ....................................................................... 41 First Phase: The Birth of the “No Property” Rule......................................................................... 42 Second Phase: The “Work and Skill” Exception .......................................................................... 43 Third Phase: Moving Towards Property Rights............................................................................ 49 i Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 54 Chapter 4 The Prospective Recognition of Property Rights ................................................................. 55 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 55 Exploring the Ethical Landscape ...................................................................................................... 56 Property Apologists ...................................................................................................................... 57 Property Objectors ........................................................................................................................ 59 Property Supporters ...................................................................................................................... 60 Property for Reality ........................................................................................................................... 61 An Altruistic Reality ..................................................................................................................... 61 A Commodified Reality ...............................................................................................................