Law Commons^™

Enriqueciendo Con Saber Económico La Vida Diaria. Entrevista A Peter J. Boettke, Mario Šilar

Mario Šilar

No abstract provided.

Law As Referent, Craig G. Bateman

C. G. Bateman

In this article I suggest that “the Law,” (hereinafter the LAW) can be most functionally understood as a conglomeration of referent ideals which emanate from the minds of law creators, and are the source of what we regularly understand as laws. I separate from the concept of the LAW the usual suspects of constitutions, codes, acts, and charters, etc. I separate these from their inceptional ideals and suggest we ascribe a label to these familiar kinds of categories such as “lower order laws,” being careful to confine our discussions of them with the exclusive use of a small “l” (law), …

Adam Smith's Historical Jurisprudence And The "Method Of The Civilians", Ernest Metzger

Ernest Metzger

Smith lectured in jurisprudence at the University of Glasgow from 1751 to 1764, and various records of these lectures survive. Since Smith never completed a treatise on law, these records are the principal source for his theory of lawmaking. In his final year at Glasgow, Smith undertook to reorganize the course of lectures: he began with a series of lectures on "forms of government," where formerly these lectures had fallen at the very end. He explained that his reorganized lectures followed the method of the civilians (i.e., contemporary writers on Roman law), and that this method was to be preferred. …

The Meaning And The Mining Of Legal Texts, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

Positive law, inscribed in legal texts, entails an authority not inherent in literary texts, generating legal consequences that can have real effects on a person’s life and liberty. The interpretation of legal texts, necessarily a normative undertaking, resists the mechanical application of rules, though still requiring a measure of predictability, coherence with other relevant legal norms and compliance with constitutional safeguards. The present proliferation of legal texts on the internet (codes, statutes, judgments, treaties, doctrinal treatises) renders the selection of relevant texts and cases next to impossible. We may expect that systems to mine these texts to find arguments that …

Human Rights As Preconditions For Intercultural Society, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

In this contribution human rights will be considered not simply as conditions for an intercultural society such as the European Union but as preconditions, or, in other words, human rights will be conceptualized as constitutive and not as causal or moral conditions for 'European Integration'. This means that the level of the analysis is epistemological rather than methodological, though at many points I will indicate the consequences of this approach for the way comparative law can be practiced, if it is to contribute to an intercultural 'area of freedom, security and justice' (art. 29 of the Treaty of the European …

Recht En Markt: Met Falen En Opstaan, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

Inleiding

Mijn waardering voor Aernout Schmidts bescheidenheid, eruditie en historisch besef is des te groter nu hij tegelijk een scherp analyticus is, altijd bereid om wat voor de hand ligt af te zetten tegen wat onder de voet wordt gelopen. De verscheidenheid van zijn belangstelling drong zich op toen hij liet vallen dat hij Heimito Doderers Die Strudlhofstiege ging aanschaffen, waardoor ik een nieuw stukje van mijn eigen onwetendheid en een nieuwe auteur van het formaat van Musil ontdekte. Schrijvend over het Wenen van de eer- ste helft van de 20e eeuw voegt Doderer zich in de lange rij van …

Juridische Bescherming 'By Design'?, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

Dit is een redactioneel voor het tijdschrift van de Vereniging Wijsbegeerte van het Recht: Rechtsfilosofie & Rechtstheorie. Zie: http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/rechtsfilosofieentheorie/2010/2

Bridging The Accountability Gap: Rights For New Entities In The Information Society?, Mireille Hildebrandt, Bert-Jaap Koops, David-Olivier Jaquet-Chiffelle

Mireille Hildebrandt

New entities in the information society that operate at increasing distance from the physical persons ‘behind’ them, such as pseudonyms, avatars, software agents, and robots, challenge the law. One way of addressing this challenge is to attribute legal rights and/or duties in some contexts to non-humans, thus creating entities that are addressable in law themselves rather than the persons ‘behind’ them. In this article, we review existing literature on rights for non-humans, with a particular focus on emerging entities in the information society. We discuss three strategies for the law to deal with the challenge of these new entities: interpreting …

Privacy En Identiteit In Slimme Omgevingen, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

Omgevingen zijn slim omdat ze anticiperen op ons toekomstig gedrag. Op basis van een voortdurende opslag van data en de permanente analyse daarvan ontwikkelt de slimme omgeving kennis over onze voorkeuren, gewoonten, leefstijl, gezondheid, stemmingen en voornemens. Die kennis is statistisch van aard en de mate waarin toekomstig gedrag daadwerkelijk wordt voorzien hangt af van de juistheid, de relevantie en de compleetheid van de data. Tegelijk moeten we constateren dat wanneer de bewoner van een slimme omgeving op grond van die afgeleide kennis op een bepaalde manier wordt behandeld, de kans bestaat dat zij zich op den duur gaat gedragen …

Power Made Flesh: An Examination Of Power In Critical Legal Studies, Neal D. Richards

Neal D Richards

The concept of “power” is central to critical legal studies. Nevertheless, there is little discussion of what theorists mean when they critique an area of law based on underlying power structures. Given the rather slippery nature of the power concept, this is unsurprising. Yet, because how one defines power requires defining one’s normative and epistemological presuppositions, having a coherent theory of power is essential to creating an effective critique of the current state of the legal discourse. Such a theory can be created by walking through the narrative of the history of human interaction leading to the present day. Power …

Détecter Et Prévenir : De La Digitalisation Des Corps Et De La Docilité Des Normes., Antoinette Rouvroy, Thomas Berns

Antoinette Rouvroy

D’une manière quelque peu intempestive sans doute eût égard au thème général de l’ouvrage – gouverner par les corps - et aux pensées de la biopolitique qui s’y déploient, il s’agit ici de tenter d’identifier en quoi les nouvelles technologies de l’observation, de l’information, de la communication et de la réseautique, procédant à la digitalisation de la vie même, intensifiant la ‘dispersion’ ou la ‘dividualisation’ du sujet humain , tout en alimentant le mythe de sa prévisibilité, donnent lieu à une nouvelle forme de gouvernementalité irréductible aux « arts de gouverner » décrits par Foucault sous les traits du pastorat, …

Le Corps Statistique, Antoinette Rouvroy, Thomas Berns

Antoinette Rouvroy

S’il est question de « corps statistique », c’est dans la mesure où l’on veut ici analyser la gouvernementalité contemporaine, dans ce qu’elle tente de dire, de prédire et d’orienter des comportements (et intentions), et en ce que, à ce titre, elle se présenterait 1) comme statistique, au sens où elle repose fondamentalement sur l’exploitation de grandes quantités de données – signifiantes ou non aux yeux des individus eux-mêmes - recueillies dans une multitude de contextes de vie et d’action hétérogènes les uns aux autres, et sur la ‘découverte’ algorithmique de corrélations prédictives des comportements futurs et 2) comme capable …

Grensbewegingen Tussen Technologie En Recht, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

Dit is de Nederlandstalige introductie van mijn hoofdstuk 'Technology and the end of law' in 'Facing the limits of the law' (onder redactie van Erik Claes, Wouter Devroe en Bert Keirsbilck), tijdens de boekpresentatie op 1 april 2009

La Economía Que Devuelve España A Los Españoles, Mario Šilar

Mario Šilar

No abstract provided.

The Irreduceable Moral Nature Of Human Action, Mario Šilar, José María Torralba

Mario Šilar

No abstract provided.

A Dialogical-Republican Revival: Respect-Worthy Constitutionalism In Post-Conflict Northern Ireland, South Africa, And Southern Philippines, Edsel F. Tupaz

Edsel F Tupaz

This Article addresses the question of constitutional design and negotiation for deeply divided societies in post-conflict settings. It argues in favor of the adoption and application of what might be termed as the “dialogical” model of democratic constitutionalism as opposed to the “enforcement” model which characterizes much of contemporary legal ordering. In discussing their features, the Article charts a normative apparatus for making the constitutional choice between the two, and, thereafter, it tests theory into practice by undertaking a comparative analysis of what might well be successful policymaking and constitution-making practices in Northern Ireland and South Africa. The findings show …

De Reflexiviteit Van Het Risico-Denken : Een Reflectie Op Veiligheid En Recht, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

In deze bijdrage zal ik twee reflecties uitwerken naar aanleiding van de idee van reflexieve modernisering. Coolen en Van der Wal omschrijven 'reflexief in de zin dat een houding niet alleen voortbrengt wat zij beoogt, maar ook een tegendeel dat impliciet in die houding besloten ligt, waardoor de oorspronkelijke attitude zich onmogelijk nog succesvol kan realiseren'. De eerste reflectie die ik dat verband wil beproeven is onder meer geïnspireerd door het werk van de Italiaanse filosoof Claudio Ciborra, die zich bezig hield met informatie systemen en informatie theorie. In een tekst over de implicaties van het gebruik van digitale technologieën …

Selves And Things. Dubravna Ugresic And Profiling Technologies, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

In her humourous and painfull descriptions of the lives of (former) Yugoslavians, Dubravna Ugresic keenly demonstrates the intimate connection between humans and things. Like Paul Auster in The invention of solitude, she traces the unexpected workings of our 'capricious' memory (MUS:77) and its attachment to things that take us back to other times or other places (watches, houses, photographs, bridges). Written from the perspective of an exile her the Museum of Unconditional Surrender exhibits the nomadic sense of belonging that is evoked by things that may seem trivial from an 'objective' perspective. The experience of the destruction of the most …

Controlling Security In A Culture Of Fear, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

Who controls security in a culture of fear? The erosion of traditional safeguards in the quest for security raises questions about the meaning of justice, public protection, legal safeguards and resilience. The book presents a cross-disciplinary exchange on the notion of fear and its influence on international criminal, economic and security policy. The authors chart new lines of research as they proffer a variety of perspectives on the problems and trends that are emerging from national and international responses to insecurity. The diversity of the views expressed in this volume underscores the complexities of assuring security in a world beset …

Aristotle, Law And Justice: The Tragic Hero, Eric A. Engle

Eric A. Engle

Aristotle was the greatest scientist in western history. He established the scientific paradigm and the instruments thereof (materialism and logic). His work covered all basic sciences: Astronomy, Botany, Logic, Mathematics, Meteorology Philosophy, Psychology and Political Science. Aristotle's conception of justice pervades the law and heavily influenced the Anglo-Saxon court system to this day. Yet, the mark of a hero in Greek tragedy is his tragic flaw. Aristotle was not only a great scientist. He was also racist, sexist and homophobic - he thought slavery was natural and good. This tragic flaw in Aristotle's work has distorted all of western thought …

Ontology, Epistemology, Axiology: Bases For A Comprehensive Theory Of Law, Eric A. Engle

Eric A. Engle

This article presents a comprehensive theory of law founded on correct ontological, epistemological and axiological bases and proposes that monism materialism and holism will have greater explanatory and predictive power than dualist, atomist and realist International Relations (IR) theory have had. The theory, though focussed on IR theory, is applicable to domestic law as well. Western thought has long been predicated on either an ontological materialism (matter determines mind) or an ontological idealism (eidetic realism: mind determines matter). Normally, the materialist view is also monist (reality is fundamentally unitary), whereas the idealist view is generally presented as dualist (reality is …

Diabolical Frivolity Of Neoliberal Fundamentalism, Sefik Tatlic

Sefik Tatlic

Today, we cannot talk just about plain control, but we must talk about the nature of the interaction of the one who is being controlled and the one who controls, an interaction where the one that is “controlled” is asking for more control over himself/herself while expecting to be compensated by a surplus of freedom to satisfy trivial needs and wishes. Such a liberty for the fulfillment of trivial needs is being declared as freedom. But this implies as well the freedom to choose not to be engaged in any kind of socially sensible or politically articulated struggle.

Généticisation Et Responsabilité: Les Habits Neufs De La Gouvernance Néolibérale (Uncorrected Proofs), Antoinette Rouvroy

Antoinette Rouvroy

Loin du phantasme spectaculaire d’une “maléabilité” génétique de l’être humain, et nonobstant les discours grandiloquants qui ont accompagné la très coûteuse exploration du génome humain, la “nouvelle génétique humaine” ne révèle ni ne porte atteinte à l’essence de l’être humain (encore faudrait-il qu’une telle essence puisse jamais être définie), mais révolutionne notre perception des causes des smilitudes et variations au sein de l’espèce humaine. Le néologisme ‘généticisation’ désigne la contamination progressive des discours sociétaux (médicaux, juridiques, politiques, sociologiques,...) par une logique réductionniste et essentialiste faisant des gènes la cause privilégiée sinon exclusive des variations inter-personnelles et inter-communautaires au sein de …

Réinventer L'Art D'Oublier Et De Se Faire Oublier Dans La Société De L'Information?, Antoinette Rouvroy

Antoinette Rouvroy

Ce qu’il nous intéresse d’explorer à travers une réflexion sur le « droit à l’oubli » dans la société de l’information, c’est la manière dont les nouvelles technologies – et les formes inédites de production du savoir et de constitution de la mémoire qui les accompagnent - instigatrices de changements culturels, transforment les processus de « subjectivation » ou de développement par l’individu d’une personnalité qui lui soit propre. L’enjeu de ce détour, plus philosophique que juridique, est fondamental pour le droit: puisque l'auto-détermination, ou le libre développement de la personnalité se trouvent être les concepts clés des régimes de …

Polycentric Governance Of Normative Technologies: Democratic And Constitutional Issues / Gouvernance Polycentrique Des Technologies Normatives: Enjeux Démocratiques Et Constitutionnels., Antoinette Rouvroy

Antoinette Rouvroy

English abstract: This personal project, funded by the FNRS, addresses the relationships between Law and the myriad of norms generated by non-state actors involved in the governance of the Information Society. A first question is about both the specificities, if any, of the legal norms, or of the Law, in the regulatory landscape of the Information Society, and the role that the law might have in the assessment and guarantee of the legitimacy of 'non-state norms'. Assuming that a basic condition of the legitimacy of norms, whatever their kinds, would reside in the possibility that individuals have to contest them, …

The Organismic State Against Itself: Schelling, Hegel And The Life Of Right, Joshua D. Lambier

Joshua D Lambier

Focusing on the political thought of Schelling and Hegel – beginning with the early texts (1796–1802), then moving briefly to Hegel’s well known Philosophy of Right (1821) – this essay revisits the Romantic-Idealist theory of the organic state by returning to its genesis in the turbulent political, cultural and scientific debates of the post-Revolutionary period. Given the controversial nature of its historical (mis)appropriations, the organic idea of the state has become synonymous with totality and closure. This essay argues, however, that the contemporary rejection of organicism relies on narrow interpretations of Romantic and Idealist notions of organic life, interpretations that …

Droits De L'Homme, Droits Du Citoyen: Les Présupposés De La Jurisprudence Américaine Et Européenne, Gregory Lewkowicz

Gregory Lewkowicz

This paper proposes a comparative analysis of some rulings of the US Supreme Court and of the European Court of Human Rights. Reviewing cases related to international legal problems or using comparative legal reasoning, the paper suggests that the difference of attitudes between the two courts in human rights cases is embedded in the classical opposition between men and citizen.

Solidarity And Subsidiarity In A Changing Climate: Green Building As Legal And Moral Obligation, Jamison E. Colburn

Jamison E. Colburn

This essay grew out of a symposium on Catholic social thought. It makes the case for solidarity and subsidiarity as principles of applied (secular) ethics by injecting them into what must be their most challenging context: catastrophic global climate disruption. It argues that the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity hold tremendous potential within our liberal constitutional tradition by exploring the developing trend toward "green building" in the United States. Part I describes what we know about greenhouse gases and climate disruption while Part II frames the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity. Part III explores the phenomenal growth of green building …

John Rawls, La Razón Pública Y El Papel Del Poder Judicial (Traducción), Leonardo García Jaramillo

Leonardo García Jaramillo

No abstract provided.

Prolegomena To A Process Theory Of Natural Law, Mark C. Modak-Truran

Mark C Modak-Truran

Two contemporary quandaries in legal theory provide an occasion for a revival of interest in natural law theories of law. First, the debate about legal indeterminacy has made it clear that law cannot function autonomously—as a self-contained set of rules—but requires a normative justification of judges’ decisions in hard cases. In addition, Steven D. Smith has persuasively argued that there is an "ontological gap" between the practice of law, which presupposes a classical or religious ontology, and legal theory, which presupposes a scientific ontology (i.e., scientific materialism) that rejects religious ontology. This article demonstrates how the process philosophy of Alfred …