Legal personality of conjoined (Siamese) twins: history and modern times

Introduction: the cases when conjoined (Siamese) twins are born are not so rare. However, there has been no univocal approach to the status of such children from the standpoint of legal history. Purpose: various approaches to defining the legal personality of conjoined twins are considered: they may be treated as separate legal entities, as a single personality, and as a complex union of individuals. Methods: the extensive use of the historical method allows us to establish that for a long time birth of conjoined twins was considered a bad omen, such children were looked at as beasts, ‘sprawns of the devil’, so it was not supposed disgraceful to kill them at birth or exploit such twins making them take part in public performances in defiance of their will. Conjoined twins were traded like any other goods; and even modern times have seen cases of their exploitation and discrimination. Results: currently the legal personality of conjoined twins is characterized by a number of peculiarities. Firstly, they jointly enjoy some constitutional rights and freedoms. Secondly, general provisions of family law on determining paternity/maternity are not applicable to conjoined twins sharing genital organs. In many cases it is impossible to arraign only one of the twins on a criminal charge or hold only one of them administratively liable since there is no possibility to perform some legal proceedings, impose a pretrial restraint or punishment. Restriction of some rights and freedoms (personal liberty, freedom of movement, the right to labor) of one of conjoined twins would inevitably have an effect on the other, being innocent. Thirdly, the issues of bioethics arising when conjoined twins are separated by surgeons are also given an ambiguous legal assessment, which is still the case even when one of the twins is a parasite. Conclusions: in the light of the ongoing medical advances, increasing the chances of conjoined twins to live, it is getting essential to tackle the issues concerning the determination of their legal personality.