Questions tagged [judging]
For questions about actions and decisions of a court of law.
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do Judges have the power to interpret a law contrary to the drafters intent?
From what I see, a judiciary has the power to interpret laws and they don't need to interpret it with regard to the intent of the legislature neccesarily and they can apply standards of fairness in ...
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On the (Equi)Potency of Each Organic Law of the United States
According to the United States Code, there are four organic laws of the United States:
The United States Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776,
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union ...
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When does a judge decide to address issues outside the scope of a specific case?
In a 2012 case, Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench (now King's Bench) of Alberta, J.D. Rooke, wrote a decision ...
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Are judges still making decisions in the Crown Court?
If a judge's main duty mainly revolves on decision-making, what about Crown Court judges?
Since juries are deployed in a small percentage of cases at the crown court and they are the ones who make the ...
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What requirements, if any, do judges have to render timely decisions?
Are there any statutes or rules that compel judges to render timely decisions on matters that they hear?
I.e., if a motion or case is brought before a court is there anything preventing a judge from ...
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Legal remedies if a lower court ignores stare decisis?
Let's say hypothetically that lower courts en masse decide to ignore Supreme Court decisions.
What legal alternatives are available to citizens if lower courts "Go rogue" and decides to ignore a ...
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What happens if someone provides evidence in court without the knowledge of the judge?
It is my understanding that the judge must accept (almost?) all evidence admitted into court. So, this leaves me with three questions:
What happens if an official shows evidence that the judge hadn't ...
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Are judges supposed to take public opinion into account?
Is there a legal consensus on whether judges should / should not be influenced by public opinion?
If so, is there some maxim, phrase, or principle that illustrates that position (e.g. "innocent ...
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If a judge says in court that he trusts the other party would this amount to judicial misconduct?
The judge in a custody case with Bob and Janice says that he (the judge) trusts Janice.
Would this amount to judicial misconduct or bias?
Bear in mind that Bob has also the challenge of getting a male ...
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What motivates judges to rule justly?
In a market every shop has an incentive to charge a fair price: Charge too little, they go bankrupt. Charge too much and they won't sell anything.
What mechanisms exist to encourage judges to rule ...
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What decisions can a Judge make after the Prosecution withdraws a case?
Background
In the news, the prosecutors for Michael Flynn recently withdrew their case for the reasons stated in this court brief.
However, Flynn has already pleaded guilty as mentioned several ...
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Have there been attempts to manage quality of judicial work?
When judges make judicial errors of law (those later identified by higher courts on appeal; not to be confused with judicial misconduct), they are not affected beyond possible damage to their public ...
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Why don't Commonwealth judges always write out the headings "Ratio Decidendi" and "Obiter Dictum", to definitively distinguish them?
I ask solely about Anglo-American written judgments. Why don't judge's written judgments always comprise the headings "Ratio Decidendi" and "Obiter Dictum", just like how the ...
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What happens after a Motion to Vacate has been granted?
What happens after a Motion to Vacate has been granted?
Let's consider an example. Let's say that A and B had a custody dispute, and A won. There was a court order that B had to pay $x more per ...
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Can a judge make it case law that 2×2=5?
The following quote from Malcolm Turnbull is actually not what this question is about, but nevertheless it is a good-fit epigraph:
The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law ...
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Can a judge increase the speed on a traffic ticket?
I had a trial de novo today for a 22349(a), cited for 80 mph. At court when discussing the case, the officer gave his introductory statement and alleged that his radar clocked me at 90 mph but that he ...
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Is it error of law to judge on less relevant case law when there is much more relevant one?
A judge in a civil case makes a judgment justifying it by similar decision made in somewhat relevant case.
A party to the case is dissatisfied with the judgment. They find a more recent and, more ...
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Is it an error for a judge to not consider all pieces of evidence?
A prosecutor attempts to lay charges against an alleged perpetrator (in New Zealand anyone can do this under the private prosecution provisions).
The judge is presented with a set of pieces of ...
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Are judges limited in their reasoning to arguments raised by the parties?
Bob files a civil lawsuit agaist Rob. For simplicity, let's assume they both represent themselves.
At the hearing, Bob says: "Here is the evidence. Rob was wrong because of reason A, so he owes me ...
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Do judges try to appeal-proof their decisions?
I've been reading a lot of judges' decisions recently, and I've noticed a type of comment that comes up frequently: comments that seem to only be provided in order to make it more difficult for an ...
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Can a judge/justice file a lawsuit and bring a case to their own court? What happens then?
Can a judge or justice (I'm interested in both) file a lawsuit that would normally fall under their own court's jurisdiction?
What happens in such a scenario? I'm especially interested in the answer ...
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Absolute immunity, judicial corruption and public interest
I'm reading DENNIS v. SPARKS, (1980). It is part of larger reading from Operation Greylord. Part of the decision says:
Judicial immunity arose because it was in the public interest to have
judges ...
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Can judges be compelled to justify themselves?
As noted here:
Sometimes a judge simply enters a verdict with no real substantive
explanation whatsoever, despite the fact that a judge is supposed to
write an opinion making the findings of ...
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What is the significance of dissenting opinions in appellate court decisions?
Appellate courts often hear cases en banc and decide them by simple majority of the judges on the bench. The majority will typically sign a single "per curiam" decision, which constitutes the ...
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Is it accurate to assert new rule-making by judges 'when they interpret statutes'?
Source: p 5, How to Study Law (2010 6 ed) by A Bradney, F Cownie, J Masson, A Neal & D Newell.
Precedents
Not all legal rules are laid down in an Act Of Parliament or some other piece of ...
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How do 'rules developed entirely by judicial decisions' differ from 'new rules made by judges when they interpret statutes'? [duplicate]
Source: p 5, How to Study Law (2010 6 ed) by A Bradney, F Cownie, J Masson, A Neal & D Newell.
Precedents
Not all legal rules are laid down in an Act Of Parliament or some other piece of ...
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Why is a discretion in name only, because it can only be exercised one way?
Source: pp 51-52, The Rule of Law (2010) by Thomas Bingham
But some exercises of judicial power are usually described as discretionary.
For example, while some remedies, notably damages,
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How does 'judgement' differ from 'discretion'?
Source: p 52, The Rule of Law (2010) by Thomas Bingham
In statutes the word ‘may’ (as opposed to ‘shall’ or ‘must’) is ordinarily understood to confer a discretion: the judge (or
the ...
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Are principles of judicial interpretation subject to legislative control?
In the news you often read about differing philosophies of judicial interpretation, especially when important cases are decided (like several recent US Supreme Court decisions). I recently browsed ...
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Why are judges allowed to read news and media opinions?
I find it interesting that apparently judges are allowed to read news and opinions about the litigation in front of them, whereas juries would not be.
Why is there such a distinction, and are there ...
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Is the judge allowed to nullify laws?
If a jury disagrees with a law, it's allowed to exercise a right known as jury nullification.
However, what about civil cases (e.g., in a Superior Court in California) that are presided by a judge ...
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How does one determine the reasons for a judge's recusal?
I was reading about Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) (full opinion), which states that Justices
Reed, Jackson, Rutledge took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
As another example, in ...
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