Towards a Human Rights Approach to Death and Dying - the Rights of Unclaimed Bodies

Death and dying has always been a concern to political sciences, and throughout history there were multiple attempts to control the fate of dead bodies. However, dead bodies – specifically unclaimed bodies – aren’t considered a subject of rights. International standards are either non-existent or inapplicable, and there is still no comprehensive understanding about post-mortem rights, let alone the rights of unclaimed bodies. This thesis aims to demonstrate, from a historical, political, and bioethical perspective, that dead bodies are indeed right-holders, therefore advocating for a Human Rights approach to death and dying.