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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Mistake Of Fact Defense And The Reasonableness Requirement, Margaret F. Brinig Jan 1978

The Mistake Of Fact Defense And The Reasonableness Requirement, Margaret F. Brinig

Journal Articles

This article examines specifically the mistake of fact defense and its disparate treatment under these two systems of justice. The British approach is to retain a subjective element in the mistake of fact defense, while American courts impose an objective "reasonableness" requirement. The substantive criminal law approach, utilizing the concept of mens rea, will be discussed first, and will be followed by a treatment of recent American constitutional developments in the area of burden of proof standards in their criminal context. Finally, two factually similar rape cases, one British and one American, will be analyzed to show the present contrasting …


Abortion And Constitution: United States And West Germany, Donald P. Kommers Jan 1977

Abortion And Constitution: United States And West Germany, Donald P. Kommers

Journal Articles

The US Supreme Court’s 1973 and the German Federal Constitutional Court’s 1975 decisions on abortion provide us with an uncommon opportunity to compare the constitutional law of different nations on the issue. The two courts took opposing stances in their decisions. The US Supreme Court substantially curtailed the power of American states to limit abortion while the German court ruled that an existing statute that permitted abortion within the first three months of pregnancy violated the rights of unborn children. These opinions can be explained by the different political contexts of the two nations and different perceptions on judicial intervention …


Judicial Review: Its Influence Abroad, Donald P. Kommers Jan 1976

Judicial Review: Its Influence Abroad, Donald P. Kommers

Journal Articles

The doctrine of judicial review, having been nourished in a legal culture and socio-political environment favorable to its growth, is America’s most distinctive contribution to constitutional government. Judicial review as historically practiced in the United States was duly recorded abroad, with varying degrees of influence and acceptability. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the influence of judicial review was most conspicuous in Latin America, where it was adopted as an articulate principle of numerous national constitutions, while most European nations consciously rejected it as incompatible with the prevailing theory of separation of powers. Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, although marginally …


The Value Of Comparative Constitutional Law, Donald P. Kommers Jan 1976

The Value Of Comparative Constitutional Law, Donald P. Kommers

Journal Articles

The publication of an English translation of a notable decision by a major foreign tribunal' is a fitting occasion on which to discuss the value of comparative constitutional law as a subject of academic study and as a legal discipline of valid current applicability. When referring to comparative constitutional law, I am speaking mainly of case law and most particularly of judicial decisions handed down by national tribunals empowered to review the constitutionality of legislative and executive acts.


Comparative Judicial Review And Constitutional Politics, Donald P. Kommers Jan 1975

Comparative Judicial Review And Constitutional Politics, Donald P. Kommers

Journal Articles

Donald P. Kommers reviews Richard D. Baker's Judicial Review in Mexico: A Study of the Amparo Suit (Austin and London: University of Texas Press, 1971); B. L. Strayer's Judicial Review of Legislation in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1968); Heinz Laufer's Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit und politischer Prozess (Tiibingen: J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck ], 1968); Mauro Cappelletti's Judicial Review in the Contemporary World (Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1971); Edward McWhinney's Judicial Review (4th ed.) (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1969); Richard E. Johnston's The Effect of Judicial Review on Federal-State Relations in Australia, Canada, and the United States (Baton Rouge: Louisiana …


Politics And Jurisprudence In West Germany: State Financing Of Political Parties, Donald P. Kommers Jan 1971

Politics And Jurisprudence In West Germany: State Financing Of Political Parties, Donald P. Kommers

Journal Articles

The relationship between political parties and representative government has been an important consideration in the constitutional jurisprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Federal Constitutional Court has gone further than any other constitutional tribunal in the West to promote a free and competitive party system, and the Court’s decisions affecting the status of parties under the Basic Law, especially those having to do with party finance, are a marvelous illustration of the interplay between politics and law. The Federal Constitutional Court’s decision in 1966 to invalidate a federal plan for subsidizing political parties is a good example of the …


Judicial Review In Italy And West Germany, Donald P. Kommers Jan 1971

Judicial Review In Italy And West Germany, Donald P. Kommers

Journal Articles

This is a comparative study of the constitutional courts of Italy and West Germany. These institutions, established in the 1950's, have settled hundreds of constitutional disputes. And their caseloads continue to rise in volume. The time seems ripe, therefore, briefly to review the work of these tribunals and to relate this work to the condition of constitutional democracy in the two polities. It should be remarked that this is not fundamentally a study in constitutional jurisprudence. The main purpose of this article is to see how judicial review has actually operated, what its effects have been, and what its future …