This book, which originated from the broadly held view that there is a lack of Rule-of-law in Mexico, and from the emphasis of traditional academia on cultural elements as the main explanation, explores the question of whether there is any relationship between the system of constitutional review and thus the 'law' as such and the level of Rule-of-law in a given state. To do so, it elaborates a theoretical model for achieving Rule-of-law and compares it to the constitutional review systems of the United States, the Federal Republic of Germany, and Mexico. The study concludes that the two former states correspond to the model, while the latter does not. This is fundamentally due to the role each legal system assigns to ordinary jurisdiction in carrying out constitutional review. Whereas the US and Germany have fostered the policy that constitutional review regarding the enforcement of basic rights is the responsibility of ordinary courts, Mexico has relied too heavily on the specialized constitutional jurisdiction.

A blindfolded woman holding a balance and a sword personifies one of our most significant virtues. We find Lady Justice in statues and paintings that adorn courts and other institutions of law, symbolizing strength and impartiality. Yet why do we valorize this virtue primarily as a quality of societies, and secondly as one of individual character? We can trace the virtue of justice to ancient Greece, where virtue ethics began its long evolution. There justice was seen as one of the most prominent virtues - and arguably the most important of the social virtues. With time, political philosophy diverted focus to understanding justice as a property of societies, and discussion of justice as a virtue of individuals diminished. But justice as a virtue of individual character has, along with the other virtues, reasserted itself not only in philosophy but in social psychology and other empirical fields of study. This volume aims to demonstrate the breadth of that thinking and research. It comprises new essays solicited from philosophers and political theorists, psychologists, economists, biologists, and legal scholars. Each contribution focuses on some aspect of what makes people just, either by examining the science that explains the development of justice as a virtue, by highlighting virtue cultivation within distinctive traditions of empirical or philosophical thought, or by adopting a distinctive perspective on justice as an individual trait. As the volume shows, justice begins with the individual, and flows outward to make just laws and just societies.

Written from the perspective of a philosopher and African immigrant, this book makes a foreceful moral argument for the need for a Truth and Reconcilation Commission (TRC) in the U.S. to address the long history of injustice to African-Americans. It shows that a TRC-similar to those established in South Africa and Chile-would rescue the ideals embodied in the U.S. Constitution while expanding their promise. Rejecting more recent views of the country's founding as an embodiment of incorrigible racial oppression, Olufemi Taiwo sees in the U.S. Constitution, and the original utopia that was at its foundation, the best available means for achieving liberty and justice. But he simultaneously shows how only a TRC can successfully open the path to moving the U.S. past its long legacy of antiblack racism in particular and racial oppression, generally, towards a more perfect union. Written with an immigrant's love of his new homeland but a clear-eyed view of its major shortcomings, the book rejects the idea of American exceptionalism in prescribing a solution that has worked elsewhere. Key Features A clear view of the wide chasm between the ideals established at the U.S.'s founding and the subsequent society that developed. Combines first-person experiences of the author with close readings of modern political philosophy, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King, Jr., Derrick Bell, and others. Traces the link between the denial of citizenship to Blacks, both historically and today, and anti-Black violence. Shows how an obsession with the law and legal reform will never adequately address the fundamental problem of anti-Black oppression. Shows philosophically the necessity of establishing a consensual view of the truth must precede any effective reonciliation.

This book expands on established doctrine in legal history and sets out a challenge for legal philosophers. The English medieval village community offers a historical and philosophical lens on the concept of custom, which challenges accepted notions of what law is. The book traces the study of the medieval village community from early historical works in the nineteenth century through to current research. It demonstrates that some law-making can and has been 'bottom-up' in English law, with community-led decision-making having a particularly important role in the early common law. The detailed consideration of law in the English village community reveals alternative ways of making and conceiving of law which are not dependent on state authority, particularly in relation to customary and communal property rights. Acknowledging this poses challenges for legal theory: the legal positivism that dominates Western legal philosophy tends to reject custom as a source of law. However, this book argues that medieval customary law ought to be considered 'law' if we are ever going to fully understand law - both then and now. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers and academics working in the areas of Legal History, Legal Theory, and Jurisprudence.

This book - which is the result of several years of research, discussion, writing and re-writing - consists of three parts and eight chapters. The rst part is given by the two rst chapters introducing the issue of validity and facticity in law. The second part (Chapters 3, 4 and 5) is the core of this study and tries to present a theory based on a speci c view about language and social practice. The third part deal with the issue of value judgments and views about morality and consists of Chapters 6 and 7. Chapter 8 should nally serve as epilogue. In the rst chapter a discussion is started about the relationship between law and power, seen as a presupposition for an assessment of the nature of law. As a matter of fact, as has been remarked, "general theories of law struggle to do justice to the 1 multiple dualities of the law". Indeed, law has a "dual nature": it is a fact, but it also a norm, a sort of ideal entity. Law is sanction, but it is also discourse. It is effectivity, or facticity, but it is also a vehicle of principles among which the central one is justice. But this duality is not only a phenomenological, or a matter of justi cation and implementation as two separate moments.

An explanation of how building a strong membership programme can catapult a nonprofit organization toward the fulfillment of its mission. This book presents a comprehensive philosophy that sets membership apart from annual giving programmes and provides a step-by-step process for developing a programme within an organization. It features a solid grounding in marketing techniques that offer readers the tools needed to understand their current members and attract new ones, and it guides the organization through the process of linking programme goals with membership goals.

This book argues that human rights cannot go global without going local. This important lesson from the winding debates on universalism and particularism raises intricate questions: what are human rights after all, given the dissent surrounding their foundations, content, and scope? What are legitimate deviances from classical human rights (law) and where should we draw "red lines"? Making a case for balancing conceptual openness and distinctness, this book addresses the key human rights issues of our time and opens up novel spaces for deliberation. It engages philosophical reasoning with law, politics, and religion and demonstrates that a meaningful relativist account of human rights is not only possible, but a sorely needed antidote to dogmatism and polarization.

This book explores the answers to fundamental questions about the human mind and human behaviour with the help of two ancient texts. The first is Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Tyrannus) by Sophocles, written in the 5th century BCE. The second is human DNA, with its origins around 4 billion years ago, and continuously revised by chance and evolution. With Sophocles as a guide, the authors take a journey into the Genomic era, an age marked by ever-expanding insights into the human genome. Over the course of this journey, the book explores themes of free will, fate, and chance; prediction, misinterpretation, and the burden that comes with knowledge of the future; self-fulfilling and self-defeating prophecies; the forces that contribute to similarities and differences among people; roots and lineage; and the judgement of oneself and others. Using Oedipus Rex as its lens, this novel work provides an engaging overview of behavioural genetics that demonstrates its relevance across the humanities and the social and life sciences. It will appeal in particular to students and scholars of genetics, education, psychology, sociology, and law.

The increasing visibility of Islam in France and the vehemence of debates about it have often contributed to narrow public perceptions of secularism to a simplistic antireligious crusade, a misleading image disseminated by the media and politicians alike. Taking the opposite stand, this book embarks on a comprehensive effort to document the multiple areas in which French secularism plays out - in debates over "cults," places of worship, chaplaincy services in public institutions, the recognition of associations of worship, and more -, outlining and analizing the legal paths favored by the state in the regulation of religious diversity. While Islam has undoubtedly contributed to the reshaping of French secularism in the last decades, the book moves beyond what has come to be known as the "Muslim Question" to look at the multiplicity of challenges contemporary religious beliefs, practices, and organizations now pose to the state. David Koussens examines the main political and legal configurations of French secularism over the last thirty years through a sociological and juridical lens, in order to better document its diversity. Such a portrait emphasizes that French secularism is not a univocal phenomenon but one that appears in many guises.

Universities are pressed to compete within the global scene of international higher education. What is the status of the national or local language in higher education when the dominance of English in the academic world increases? Universities have become an interesting field for research on sociolinguistic and language policy aspects. How can the global edge and the local function of universities be effectively combined? This book combines case study contributions from countries within and outside Europe in order to underline the key language policy challenges universities around the world face in their attempt to remain nationally leading and interna-tionally competitive institutions. The grouping of different countries and contexts leads to the scrutiny of a variety of scopes that complement each other.

Republicanism, liberalism, and the rule of law have a long and tangled common history in the development of Western institutions. All three claim to secure "liberty" for citizens or subjects of the state, without always agreeing about what this should mean in practice. Mortimer Sellers' The Sacred Fire of Liberty places the concept of "liberty" into the context of its political origins, and explains the structures and vocabulary of liberty that still dominate contemporary legal and political debate. Contrary to the common opposition of liberal and republican traditions as rival conceptions of political legitimacy, Sellers demonstrates the close links between the two, their common roots in developing Western conceptions of liberty, and their eventual divergence over structures of government following the French revolution.

This book offers a series of original essays by an international group of scholars whose work looks comparatively at law's attempts to deal with the past. Ranging from questions of criminal responsibility and amnesty to those of law's relation to time,memory, and the ethics of reconciliation, it is a sustained jurisprudential and philosophical analysis of one of the most important and pressing legal concerns of our time. Among its key concerns is that justice's demand on law has changed and, in the face of a divided and violent past, law is being called on to do the kind of work it ordinarily shuns. What this means for conventional understandings of law, as well as for the relation between law and politics in times of transition, is explored through a discussion of experiences from Eastern Europe and Germany, to South Africa, Israel, and Australia. The book thus provides a timely investigation of the nature of law and legal institutions in times of political and social change, and will appeal to a broad international audience including lawyers, political theorists, criminologists, and philosophers.

Reprint of the second revised and enlarged edition, being a completely revised version of the first edition which was published in 1934. Kelsen 1881-1973], was the author of more than forty works on law and legal philosophy, and is best known for this title and General Theory of Law and State. He was also the author of the Austrian Democratic Constitution, which was published in 1920, abolished during the Nazi regime, restored in 1945, and in force today. Walker calls Kelsen "possibly the most influential jurisprudent of the twentieth century." Walker, Oxford Companion to Law 699.

This book advances a new interpretation of Hart’s penal philosophy. Positioning itself in opposition to current interpretations, the book argues that Hart does not defend a mixed theory of punishment, nor a rule utilitarian theory of punishment, nor a liberal form of utilitarianism, nor a goal/constraint approach. Rather, it is argued, his penal philosophy is based on his moral pluralism, which comprises two aspects: value pluralism and pluralism with respect to forms of moral reason. It is held that this means, on the one hand, that criminal law has an irreducible complexity due to the compromises it makes to accommodate competing values, and on the other hand, that there need not be one single justification of punishment. This original interpretation is not based only on Hart’s key volume on the subject Punishment and Responsibility, but on a careful reading of his complete works. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers interested in Hart’s philosophy, the philosophy of law and criminal law.

This text offers an examination of the jurisprudential aspects of Kant's international thought, with reference to the argument of his treatise, "Perpetual Peace" (1795). In the book, Kant's international thought is situated in the wider context of his moral and political philosophy. Particular attention is given to explaining how Kant saw law as providing the basis for peace among men and states in the international sphere, and how in his exposition of the elements of the law of peace, he broke with the secular natural law tradition of Grotius, Hobbes, Wolff and Vattel.

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This book presents a ground-breaking, interdisciplinary study into the various goals assigned to international criminal trials. It starts from the proposition that no hierarchy exists amongst the different goals meaning that trials should strive to achieve all of them in equal measure. This is made difficult by the fact that not all of these goals are compatible and the fulfilment of one may lead to others going unmet. Therefore, a balance must be found if the goals of trial are to be achieved at all. The book posits that fairness should serve as the guiding principle when weighing the different trial goals against one another. It is argued that without fairness international and internationalised criminal courts and tribunals lack legitimacy and without legitimacy they lack effectiveness. The book concludes that international criminal trials must adopt procedures that emphasise fairness to all of the parties and trial participants if they wish to accomplish any of the goals set for them. Each chapter is devoted to identifying and explaining a different trial goal, providing analysis of how that particular goal functions in conjunction with the other goals, and discussing the ways in which a fairness-oriented trial model will help achieve those goals. The book provides a dynamic understanding of the different trial goals and the importance of fairness in the trial process by drawing on research from a variety of different legal disciplines while also incorporating scholarship rooted in criminology, political theory, international relations, and psychology. The book will be essential reading for researchers, academics and professionals working in the areas of International Criminal Law, Public International Law and Transitional Justice.

Teaching the Essentials of Law and Economics covers the core areas of law and economics, also known as the economic analysis of law, in non-technical terms with guiding notes throughout the text. Replete with cases and illustrations, it may be used both as a lecture guide for instructors, and as a basic text for students. The author provides an up-to-date and succinct account of the application of economic analysis to legal doctrines, institutions and legal reform. Classic cases taken from Anglo-American common law, with some consideration of civil law, along with more recent material, are used to illustrate the analysis. The book has a non-technical, built-in system designed to guide teaching as well as private study of the material. Professors and instructors teaching this growing field of inquiry as well as legal scholars interested in the influence of economics on American law, economists analyzing the incentive structure of legal systems and doctrines, public-policy students considering legal reform and judges and legal personnel seeking a succinct treatment of economics of law will be indebted to the author for this guide to Teaching Essentials of Law and Economics.

The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy and Psychology of Forgiveness brings into conversation research from multiple disciplines, offering readers a comprehensive guide to current forgiveness research. Its 42 chapters, newly commissioned from an internationally acclaimed group of scholars, are divided into five parts: Religious Traditions Historic Treatments The Nature of Forgiveness Normative Issues Empirical Findings While the principal aim of the handbook is to provide a guide to the philosophical literature on forgiveness that, ideally, will inform the psychological sciences in developing more philosophically accurate measures and psychological treatments of forgiveness, the volume will be of interest to students and researchers with a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, including philosophy, psychology, theology, religious studies, classics, history, politics, law, and education.

Cyberspace is a difficult area for lawyers and lawmakers. With no physical constraining borders, the question of who is the legitimate lawmaker for cyberspace is complex. Rethinking the Jurisprudence of Cyberspace examines how laws can gain legitimacy in cyberspace and identifies the limits of the law?s authority in this space. Two key questions are central to the book: Who has authority to make laws within cyberspace and how do laws in cyberspace achieve legitimacy? Chris Reed and Andrew Murray answer these questions by examining the jurisprudential principles that explain law in the physical world and rethinking them for the cyberworld. In doing so they establish that cyberlaw is more similar to traditional law than previously thought, but that establishing legitimate authority is quite different. This book provides the first thorough examination of the jurisprudence of cyberspace law, asking why any law should be obeyed and how the rule of law is to be maintained there. Academics and researchers who are interested in the regulation of cyberspace will find this to be a compelling study. More broadly, it will appeal to those researching in the fields of transnational legal studies, jurisprudence and legal thought.

This book builds a case for how social norms are neither mere conventions nor are they merely anthropological phenomena, which are relativistic. In other words, it talks about how socio-political norms are built out of our natural social behaviour but at the same time also have objective normative validity. The volume puts forth an alternative model called the recognitional model which can help us address some of the socio-political concerns we face in today's world. It addresses the problem with a purely legalistic framework of addressing social injustice is that law, due its universalistic assumptions, regarding human nature, tends to glide over the particular differences that might exist between people. This book discusses how we know that in our daily lives, we value people not only because that person is a legal human being but because that person is our father, mother, our teacher etc. There is a whole network of acts of social respect that we engage in with the other in our social sphere which the legal framework can't quite capture. This volume sheds light on the political consequence of legal reasoning is that it is formalistic in the sense that legal relations can't successfully codify the immediate epistemic context from which social identities emerge. An introspective work, this book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of linguistics, political philosophy, law and human rights, and social theory.

The law of torts is concerned with the secondary obligations generated by the infringement of primary rights. This work seeks to show that this apparently simple proposition enables us to understand the law of torts as found in the common law. Using primarily English materials, but drawing heavily upon the law of other common law jurisdictions, Stevens seeks to give an account of the law of torts which relies upon the core material familiar to most students and practitioners with a grasp of the law of torts. This material is drawn together in support of a single argument in a provocative and accessible style, and puts forward a new theoretical model for analysing the law of torts, providing an overarching framework for radically reconceiving the subject.