Regulating human body parts and products

This special volume of Health Care Analysis is dedicated to a consideration of the status of body parts and products and the role of law in regulating them. We argue that such a discussion is timely given the conflation of te chnological and academic concerns posed by the complex legal framework with in which these issues are currently addressed and in the light of debates s uch as those regarding the storage of children's organs addressed by inquir ies at Alder Hay and Bristol, United Kingdom. The contributors address spec ific legal problems which have been brought before the courts in the UK and other jurisdictions, something which we suggest is likely to occur with in creasing regularity once the Human Rights Act 1998 comes into force in Octo ber 2000. The issues are also considered on a more theoretical level with p apers exploring the role of concepts such as property, donation, commodific ation and kinship in these debates. While the volume focuses principally up on the manner in which these issues have arisen in a UK context, though wit h reference to certain comparative examples, the concepts discussed here ar e of more general application across other jurisdictions.