The Unjustified Ubiquity of ‘Dignity’

Abstract Several legal texts refer to ‘(human) dignity’. There is no consensus, however, on what this notion means. It may be used in a descriptive or a prescriptive sense, but neither sense provides the desired clarity. Dispensing with the notion ‘dignity’ does not raise legal concerns, while it has the positive effect that lawmakers no longer need to occupy themselves with anything else than realizing legislation on the basis of which the rights that are actually at stake are protected.