2 ms·
The special feature is that EU laws are written in so many different languages that a textual interpretation is not only not preferred, but completely impossibl
by zarzavat 2y ago
The special feature is that EU laws are written in so many different languages that a textual interpretation is not only not preferred, but completely impossible.
US law places a moderate degree of emphasis on textualism in statutory interpretation, at least for a Common Law jurisdiction. Even the word “textualism” comes from the US. It’s somewhat common for courts in the US courts to pull out a copy of Webster’s dictionary in order to interpret a statue, that kind of thing rarely happens in English law.
There are definitely some jurisdictions within the EU that place a much higher degree of emphasis on the text of a law than the US does, in their domestic legal systems, e.g. Germany. So I don’t think it’s the case that US companies are unprepared to deal with a legal system that is based on intention compared to EU companies.