Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2006 20:20:10 +0000

From: Robert Stevens

Subject: Defamation and compensation for enrichment

Dan wrote:

A closer example is that of the defendant cutting the plaintiff's nose or any other part of his body and sells it (eg for medical or research purposes). Although this is a nonsalable "property" the defendant should be liable in restitution.

Once detached, is a nose non-saleable at common law? I know that the sale of human organs is a criminal offence in the UK, but Jo in Little Women was able to sell her hair, why not a nose?

Who has title to my schnoz once it is severed? Me, presumably, if I am in possession, but what if the removal is carried out by someone else who now has possession of the proboscis? I have not rooted around for the answer to these questions.

Of course, although the subject matter of my right to bodily safety, my hooter, can be transferred once detached, this is not the same thing as the right itself which is inalienable, although it can be waived.

Robert Stevens
University of Oxford

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