3 ms·

France has a civil law system where precendent is not binding nor persuasive.

hef19898 3y ago
But it does provide clarified opinion on how to apply tge law in similar cases, and that will be followed in future cases. That's how it works in Germany, and in principle our systems are similar enough.
- account42 3y ago
  It doesn't even matter if it will be considered for other cases - simply having an example showing that yes the GPL can be enforced will work as a deterrent before things even go to court.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    True, in German it is called "Rechtssicherheit", the presence of a clear, agreed understanding of a law and its application. The idea being, some not 110% defined legal questions get litigated once, and then most follow the outcome.
erk__ 3y ago
Is that also true of opinions of the French supreme court? In Denmark, another civil law system the highest court can give judgement in cases of principal character that should be followed in the future.
yard2010 3y ago
A precedent doesn't have to be binding to be effective
addcommitpush 3y ago
Is it so different in practice? Landmark decisions ([0], [1]) set precedent. The conseil constitutionnel has ruled that its precedent is binding [2]. In fact the majority of current constitutionnal law in France was willed into "constitutionnal" status by a landmark decision of the conseil [3]. I mean precdent can move _laws_ to the _constitution_ (see [4]). That seems pretty binding and persuasive. [0] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grands_arr%C3%AAts_en_droit_administratif_fran%C3%A7ais https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grands_arr%C3%AAts_en_droit_ad... [1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grands_arr%C3%AAts_de_la_Cour_de_cassation_(France) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grands_arr%C3%AAts_de_la_Cour_... [2] https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/decision/1962/6218L.htm https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/decision/1962/6218L.h... [3] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9cision_Libert%C3%A9_d%27association https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9cision_Libert%C3%A9_d%2...: essentially, the council ruled that the preamble of the constitution also had constitutional value (which was not the case previously and still is not for laws) - since it also mentions other texts (the preamble of the 1046 Constitution, the 1789 Bill of rights, etc. those texts also have the same legal power as the constitution. [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_principles_recognized_by_the_laws_of_the_Republic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_principles_recogni...

hef19898 3y ago

But it does provide clarified opinion on how to apply tge law in similar cases, and that will be followed in future cases. That's how it works in Germany, and in principle our systems are similar enough.

account42 3y ago
It doesn't even matter if it will be considered for other cases - simply having an example showing that yes the GPL can be enforced will work as a deterrent before things even go to court.
- hef19898 3y ago
  True, in German it is called "Rechtssicherheit", the presence of a clear, agreed understanding of a law and its application. The idea being, some not 110% defined legal questions get litigated once, and then most follow the outcome.

erk__ 3y ago

Is that also true of opinions of the French supreme court? In Denmark, another civil law system the highest court can give judgement in cases of principal character that should be followed in the future.

yard2010 3y ago

A precedent doesn't have to be binding to be effective

addcommitpush 3y ago

Is it so different in practice? Landmark decisions ([0], [1]) set precedent. The conseil constitutionnel has ruled that its precedent is binding [2]. In fact the majority of current constitutionnal law in France was willed into "constitutionnal" status by a landmark decision of the conseil [3]. I mean precdent can move _laws_ to the _constitution_ (see [4]). That seems pretty binding and persuasive. [0] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grands_arr%C3%AAts_en_droit_administratif_fran%C3%A7ais https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grands_arr%C3%AAts_en_droit_ad... [1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grands_arr%C3%AAts_de_la_Cour_de_cassation_(France) https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grands_arr%C3%AAts_de_la_Cour_... [2] https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/decision/1962/6218L.htm https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/decision/1962/6218L.h... [3] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9cision_Libert%C3%A9_d%27association https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9cision_Libert%C3%A9_d%2...: essentially, the council ruled that the preamble of the constitution also had constitutional value (which was not the case previously and still is not for laws) - since it also mentions other texts (the preamble of the 1046 Constitution, the 1789 Bill of rights, etc. those texts also have the same legal power as the constitution. [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_principles_recognized_by_the_laws_of_the_Republic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_principles_recogni...