Date: 20 February 2016 | Time: 1pm to 2.45pm | Location: Galbraith Seminar Room, 2nd Floor, Trinity Long Room Hub.

Chair: Dr Andrea Mulligan BL

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Proposing a Cortical Criteria for Determining Death: A Legal Inquiry

Ms Lauren Harper, McGill University

Brain death must be expanded to include a new cortical criterion in order tounify our legal and medical conceptions of death. This criterion would require total loss of function in the cortical regions of the brain, the area responsible for personality and what I call, the “sentient-self”. Because of this inability to experience life, they should be recognized under the purview of brain death. This paper will focus on current international legal definitions of brain death, and justify the addition of a cortical criterion through a legal, philosophical and bioethical inquiry.

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The Legal Status of Social Egg Freezing in Ireland and the UK

Ms Virginia Novaes Procopio de Araujo, Dublin City University

Social egg freezing consists of freezing and storing a woman’s eggs for a later usage due to lifestyle choices: lack of a partner, dedication to career and emotional and psychological preparation. In 2013, a technique called vitrification resulted in the removal of the experimental status of egg freezing, which led to an increase of healthy and fertile women seeking this treatment. This paper aims to observe the current legal context of social egg freezing in Ireland and in the UK, with the purpose of analysing the legal and ethical implications and ascertaining whether there are protections for women.

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The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and its Threat to the Affordability of Medical Products in Developing Countries

Mr Marc Stuhldreier, Northumbria University Newcastle

This paper examines the potential threats that the Trans-pacific partnership agreement (TPP)creates for the affordability of essential medical products in developing countries. The paper scrutinises the new patent right regulations provided by the agreement’s Intellectual Property chapter, before examining the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clauses included in the treaty’s Investment chapter. It is then considered how far negative effects that are created by the TPP – including the possibility of evergreening patents and the risks that ISDS regulations may lead to a ‘regulatory chill’- can affect developing countries, even when they are not a party to the agreement.