title: "Thin" property and controversial subject matter: Yanner v. Eaton and property rights in human tissue and embryos.
abstract: This article examines the definitions of "property" offered by the majority of the High Court of Australia in the case of Yanner v Eaton (1999) 201 CLR 351, which involved a statute giving the Crown "property" in fauna. It argues that the majority judges in that case endorsed a flexible or "thin" conception of property that is consistent with recognition of property in "things" such as excised human tissue and in vitro human embryos, despite the many differences between such "things" and ordinary chattels. A similar flexible conception of property was also an important factor in the United Kingdom case of Yearworth v North Bristol NHS Trust[2010] QB 1.
authors.affiliation: University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. lyria@unsw.edu.au
authors.forename: Lyria Bennett
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Moses
authors.affiliation: University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gollan
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D010067:Ownership / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*