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ABSTRACT
Dignity of human being is one of the most obvious and complex notions which lawyers had to study thoroughly in the last years. The complexity of dignity arises from its almost non-legal nature: dignity is a fundamental attribute of the human being or a postulate of civilization of which law should take note. It can not be conceived that dignity can be denied or that legal order ignore it.
As an expression of human value, dignity tends to be confused with the notion of humanity. The presence of a principle of dignity in our legal order is undeniable; but respect for a person's dignity can also reveal itself as a subjective right, as shown in Article 72 (1) of the Civil Code. Having in view the uncertainties arisen in the debates around dignity, the authors' approach is an attempt to reflect, on the one hand, on the conceptual notion of dignity by the analysis of the object and of the legal nature of dignity and, on the other hand, on the functional point of view which allows to determine what dignity serves for; in other words, the functions of dignity and its practical applications.
The regulation of the right to dignity in the Civil Code should be regarded as a timely novelty.
Keywords: Romanian Civil Code; right to dignity; analysis; legal regulation.
Demnitatea (dignitas) este un principiu care sta la baza drepturilor fundamentale ale omului; ea este un soclu al teoriei drepturilor omului. Demnitatea este §i un drept subiectiv, iar în materia drepturilor personalitätii are o aplicatie specialä: respectul vietii private provine din demnitatea persoanei umane. Demnitatea constituie de asemenea §i fundamentul drepturilor personalitätii1.
1. Preliminarii. Honeste vivere, a träi în delimitate (Ulpian, Digeste, 1, 1, 10). Acesta este cu adevärat un imperativ. Pentru Cicero, dignitas asigurä deosebirea dintre om §i animale, iar protecfia sa înseamna însaçi definifia justitiei (De officiis, XXX, 105). Aportul creçtinismului la afirmarea acestei valori fundamentale este capital.
Dreptul la demnitate îçi are rädäcinile în unicitatea fiintei umane §i în faptul cä omul trebuie sä fie scopul, §i nu mijlocul. "Fiinf a umanä, chiar decäzutä, bätränä, muribundä, criminalä sau mizerabilä, nu seamänä cu nicio altä creaturä, deoarece existä în ea un fei de transcendenfä în libertatea sa, identitatea sa,...