El cuerpo humano: Derechos sin propiedad o propiedad sin derechos

Abstract

This is a work in progress, dealing with property rights regarding the human body. My point of departure is to look for the best way to protect people´s right to choose in conflicts concerning the human body or its parts. Medical and biotechnological science is now at a level unimaginable only a few years ago. Furthermore, the influence of corporations is becoming more and more decisive. This paper first examines several conceptions of property, and then goes on to analyze the possibility of considering the human body or its parts as such. If this is indeed the case, as is suggested by some decisions of the jurisprudence of a number of different countries, we have to ask about the rights of individuals whose bodies were the origin of these properties.