ABSTRACT
Until recently, in England and other common law jurisdictions, separated human bodily materials could not legally be the property of the person from whom they were removed. However, third parties could acquire property rights in these materials through the application of work or skill – the so-called work or skill exception (‘work/skill’ exception). Although there were no generalisable principles about the types of activities which could trigger the exception, the effect of this common law principle was, as Margaret Brazier has explained, that ‘body parts become, as if by magic, property, but property owned by persons unknown, for purposes unforeseen’. 1 To this, she added, ‘If that represents the law, the law is an ass.’ 2
