3 ms·
Lawyers don’t care about the spirit of any law, it’s the language that matters!
by speedylight 2y ago
Lawyers don’t care about the spirit of any law, it’s the language that matters!
- HaZeust 2y agoThat's right. There's something I always say: "Lawyers are only purposivists when it benefits them, and textualists at any other avenue."
- galangalalgol 2y agoDoesn't that depend on the venue? I thought I had read that some European member states had more subjective intent based enforcement?
- omnimus 2y agoYes US and European justice systems differ in this quite a bit.
- TillE 2y agoThe DMA repeatedly requires gatekeepers to act in a "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" manner. The "spirit" is very much baked into the language.
- Dalewyn 2y agoObligatory IANAL and speaking mainly from an American understanding. "Fair", "reasonable", and "non-discriminatory" all have clearly defined legal definitions, which are not necessarily aligned with commonly understood or dictionary-defined definitions. The only thing that ultimately matters is the letter of the law. If the letter is contrary to the spirit, the law should be rewritten.
- withinboredom 2y agoNow you know why the USA* exists. Welcome to Europe, where you are both more free than the USA and less free at the same time. * I assume you mean the USA when you say America, as both the North American and South American continents have many countries.
- gpsx 2y agoWhat country do you say you are from, Kingdom of Normway? Federal Republic of Germany? Peoples Republic of China? Commonwealth of Australia?
- Dalewyn 2y agoI mean, yes? America exists because we couldn't stand Europe, and we've had to go back there at least several times to fix the mess y'all keep dispensing before we just said "Fuck it." after witnessing WW2 and made our presence permanent for the forseeable future. Now that I got the snark out of my system, I personally prefer a legal system everyone will agree on even if not everyone will like it.
- withinboredom 2y agoHeh, I’m from the US actually; moved to the Netherlands before shit got weird there. Every time I go back to visit friends and family, I get a reverse culture shock. The legal system here is mind-blowing compared to the US. My son got beat up by some thug-teenager for being from the US (the teen was Afghan, so makes sense why he would feel that way, but to take it out on a 6 year old is kinda fucked up). Anyway, watching that play out was very interesting. Even just dealing with employee background checks is interesting in that only certain crimes (relevant to the work you are asking them to do) show up. So if an embezzler wants to go into childcare, nothing would show up (probably, I haven’t actually done that, so I have no idea for this specific example, it’s just an example). It’s so fascinating… but if you are ever looking for a way out of the US: Dutch-American Friendship Treaty is a way.
- Dalewyn 2y agoI'm Japanese-American, so I'd most likely move to Japan if I ever feel like changing my scenery. Thanks though. :P
- seventyone 2y agoYes, the courts will lean on legal dictionaries such as Black's Law Dictionary and Ballentine's Law Dictionary. reasonable. Not extreme. Not arbitrary, capricious, or confiscatory. Public Service Com, v Haverneyer, 296 US 506, 80 L Ed 357, 56 S Ct 360. "What is reasonable depends upon a variety of considerations and circumstances. It is an elastic term which is of uncertain value in a definition." Sussex Land & Live Stock Co. v Midwest Refining Co. (CA8 Wyo) 294 F 597, 34 ALR 249, 257.
- layer8 2y agoEuropean courts often do.
- whimsicalism 2y agoEU is much more about the spirit of the law than American law