The right to life and conflicting interests / Elizabeth Wicks.
2010
K3252 .W53 2010 (Map It)
Available at Cellar
Formats
| Format | |
|---|---|
| BibTeX | |
| MARCXML | |
| TextMARC | |
| MARC | |
| DublinCore | |
| EndNote | |
| NLM | |
| RefWorks | |
| RIS |
Items
Details
Author
Title
The right to life and conflicting interests / Elizabeth Wicks.
Published
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.
Call Number
K3252 .W53 2010
ISBN
9780199547395 (cloth : alk. paper)
0199547394 (cloth : alk. paper)
0199547394 (cloth : alk. paper)
Description
xiv, 260 pages ; 24 cm
System Control No.
(OCoLC)559785863
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages [247]-253) and index.
Record Appears in
Table of Contents
Table of Cases
xi
Table of Legislation
xv
ch. 1
An Introduction to the Meaning of Life
1
A.
Human life: an evolutionary perspective
1
B.
Human consciousness: the key to human life?
5
C.
The end of life: defining death
9
D.
The beginning of life: life before birth?
17
E.
Conclusion
20
ch. 2
The Right to Life: Religious, Philosophical, and Legal Origins
22
A.
Religious origins of a right to life
22
1.
The Judaeo-Christian tradition
23
2.
Other religious traditions
26
3.
Beyond religion
28
B.
Philosophical origins of a right to life
29
1.
Suicide in ancient times
29
2.
Kant and human life as an end in itself
30
3.
Dworkin and investment in life
31
4.
Locke and the natural law of the preservation of life
33
C.
Legal origins of a right to life
35
1.
The American Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights
35
2.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
38
3.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
40
4.
The regional human rights systems
42
5.
International protection beyond treaties
46
D.
Conclusion
46
ch. 3
The Enforcement of the Right to Life
48
A.
Means of implementation
48
1.
Domestic implementation
48
2.
International implementation
53
a.
State reports
54
b.
Inter-state complaints
55
c.
Individual petitions
56
d.
International relations
59
B.
The scope of the right to life
61
1.
Killings by state agents
61
2.
Effective investigations for killings and disappearances
64
3.
Positive obligations to preserve life
67
4.
The death penalty
70
5.
Other issues of scope
73
C.
Conclusion
77
ch. 4
The Right to Life in Times of War or Armed Conflict
79
A.
The application of the right to life in times of war
79
1.
The substantive issue: is the right to life engaged by deaths in wartime?
81
2.
The procedural issue: are deaths in wartime within the ̀jurisdiction' of the state responsible?
82
B.
Deprivation of life in times of war: the law of international armed conflict
90
C.
The ethics of killing in wartime
93
D.
Conclusion
100
ch. 5
The Right to Life and Prevention of Crime: Killing by the State as Punishment and/or Deterrence
102
A.
The death penalty
103
1.
The death penalty in law and practice
103
a.
Current state practice and international standards
103
b.
Other human rights abuses inherent in the imposition of the death penalty
109
2.
The death penalty as an exception to the right to life
119
a.
Retributive arguments: death is what the prisoner deserves
119
b.
Deterrent arguments: take one life to save others
122
B.
The use of lethal force to prevent crime
125
1.
The use of lethal force to prevent crime
126
2.
The justification for killing in self-defence
130
3.
Mistakes as to a threat to life and necessary force
133
4.
The use of lethal force by agents of the state
137
5.
The circumstances that surround the use of lethal force: planning and control of the police operation
145
C.
Conclusion
149
ch. 6
The Right to Life and Conflicting Rights of Others
151
A.
Of trolley buses and hijacked planes
151
B.
Conflicting rights of conjoined twins
159
C.
Conflicting rights of a pregnant woman and fetus
166
D.
Conclusion
174
ch. 7
The Right to Life and Autonomy
176
A.
The value of life and autonomy
176
B.
Autonomous choices to die
178
C.
Positive obligations to prevent suicide
185
1.
Criminalization of suicide
185
2.
Obligations to prevent suicide in detention
189
D.
Assisted suicide
194
E.
Conclusion
197
ch. 8
The Right to Life and the Quality of Life
199
A.
Persons and humans: the application of the right to life
199
B.
The duty to take reasonable steps to preserve life
204
C.
What is reasonable to preserve life?
207
D.
The provision of food and water: always reasonable?
212
E.
The balancing exercise
214
F.
Conclusion
216
ch. 9
Protecting the Right to Life with Limited Public Resources
217
A.
Positive obligations and their cost
217
B.
Allocating resources to save lives
223
1.
The application of the Osman test to policing in England and Wales
223
2.
The allocation of resources in healthcare: NICE and QALY
225
C.
Procedure matters: accountability for reasonableness
232
D.
Conclusion
237
ch. 10
Conclusion: The Right to Life and Conflicting Interests
239
Bibliography
247
Index
255