79
votes
Why are there no laws rewarding people
There are plenty of laws that reward people
These include:
Literal rewards - payment for information leading to an arrest/conviction.
Welfare systems - the government is literally paying money in ...
- 151k
37
votes
Can a witness be ignorant about a question asked to him in court?
In addition to David's answer - it's more than acceptable for a witness to say that they don't know the answer; it's a requirement of their oath / affirmation to say "I don't know" if they ...
- 22.2k
33
votes
Accepted
Do various common law sovereign citizen movement theories have any kernels of basis in fact?
Does this theory have any basis in current or historical fact?
Not really.
The sovereign citizen movement uses legal terms, but not correctly, and often confounded with Biblical doctrine, and hones ...
- 134k
30
votes
Accepted
Can a witness be ignorant about a question asked to him in court?
Yes
"I don't know" answers are quite common in trials, and are perfectly acceptable. Indeed in some cases the aim of a question, particularly on cross examination, may be to get a witness to ...
- 92.8k
29
votes
Accepted
In the US are jurors actually judging guilt?
Short answer, yes, jurors will typically render a decision of guilt vs. innocence. This is pretty common in nations where the legal system is derived from British Common Law (about 2 billion people ...
- 16.3k
25
votes
Why are there no laws rewarding people
In the UK, judges sitting on criminal cases can award cash sums to individuals for exceptionally public-spirited actions which have come to light during the trial. For many years the customary sum was ...
- 985
23
votes
Is natural law a type of common law?
No, Natural law is not a type or subset of Common Law
Natural Law is derived from what some person thinks is a logical and obvious rule, or what some person thinks is God's Law. There are many ...
- 92.8k
17
votes
Legal/jurisprudential term to refer to any evidence that can be interpreted either way
Is there such a phrase in jurisprudential or legal thought?
In those instances it is common to say that the evidence is inconclusive. Accordingly, it is unavailing because that evidence does not ...
- 40.4k
14
votes
Is there a term for using law as the basis of morality?
You're thinking of legalism. It can have different meanings -- especially in Chinese legal/philosophical history -- but is the best match to the concept you're describing.
- 44.1k
14
votes
Why are there no laws rewarding people
Boy, the "yeah-but" gang just hates this question. I added a bit at the end about how to see for yourself.
The rule of law exists to replace any of these: { violence, extortion, corruption ...
12
votes
Why do some laws make saying "Heil Hitler" illegal when other laws allow freedom of political speach?
Any country is their own sovereign
There is no international law that demands any state to allow anyone free speech of all kinds. Remember that your rights end where the rights of others [incl. ...
- 13.8k
11
votes
Accepted
Legal/jurisprudential term to refer to any evidence that can be interpreted either way
While not a "one word answer", the phrase that I most frequently see for that concept is "susceptible to more than one reasonable interpretation".
The concept, by the way, is ...
- 134k
11
votes
Is there a situation where someone can be sanctioned without trial?
In the US, if a person enters a guilty plea, a judge may proceed to convict and sentence the accused without any form of trial.
In the case of minor offenses with possible penalties of less than six ...
- 92.8k
10
votes
Can a witness be ignorant about a question asked to him in court?
Banning 'I don't know' would be contrary to witnesses needing to be truthful
Let's propose the following question asked by an attorney (and it would have a good reason to be asked, with the answer ...
- 13.8k
9
votes
Does acceptance of communication with identifying characteristics originating from a disputed territory imply recognition of that territory?
No
Recognition of territorial claims is the sole province of the diplomatic branches of national government, and of heads of state. In the US it is the State Department, and ultimately the President. ...
- 92.8k
8
votes
In the US are jurors actually judging guilt?
Is it true that in US law jurors are not actually judging guilt, but rather whether the case against a person has been made in accordance with the concepts of all reasonable doubt?
It is not true, ...
- 24.9k
8
votes
Is there a situation where someone can be sanctioned without trial?
In the US, this can happen for contempt of court if it happens in open court. If the judge thinks the contempt needs to be dealt with immediately, they can convict and sentence on the spot. The person ...
- 20.7k
7
votes
In the USA, why are witnesses who demonstrated prejudice and bias not immediately removed and disqualified?
Prejudice and bias goes to credibility
The trier of fact has to decide how much weight to give each piece of evidence including witness testimony. A clearly prejudiced or biased witness will, all else ...
- 151k
7
votes
Does acceptance of communication with identifying characteristics originating from a disputed territory imply recognition of that territory?
No
As a matter of international law, each country is free to accept or reject the territorial claims (and even the existence) of every other country.
Many nations do not recognize Russia’s claims over ...
- 151k
7
votes
How can one utilize an "objective observer", if one cannot be such?
The objective observer is not a real person
She is one of a number of imaginary people who are used in law to inform judges and jurors how they should intellectually engage with a legal issue. We may ...
- 151k
6
votes
How can one utilize an "objective observer", if one cannot be such?
The key word in your quoted text is "if" meaning that such a person need not be present at the relevant time.
Rather, a judge or jury using, for example, their life experiences, common sense ...
- 22.2k
6
votes
Legal/jurisprudential term to refer to any evidence that can be interpreted either way
It's not a technical legal term, but most lawyers would refer to this using the same word you did: as "ambiguous" evidence.
- 44.1k
6
votes
Why are there no laws rewarding people
Many incentives exist granting "free money" or awarding special protections for someone that takes special actions, which exist in a variety of contexts. For example, the U.S. congress ...
5
votes
Trying to get sued?
Anti-abortion laws in the US
The heavy-handed laws introduced in some states are a deliberate challenge to Roe v Wade and are designed so that the state will lose a case and appeal all the way to the ...
- 151k
5
votes
How can two people be innocent until proven guilty if their stories conflict?
You misunderstand the significance of the phrase "innocent until proven guilty." This is in part because you are not considering the entire phrase.
The full phrase is that an accused party is "...
- 24.9k
5
votes
Is there a legal system or theory where punishment is proportional to the probability of an offence?
Interesting question.
We know from cases involving twins that even when you know for a fact one of two people committed a crime (say, because of highly incriminating DNA evidence), both twins will be ...
- 5,916
5
votes
Is there a legal system or theory where punishment is proportional to the probability of an offence?
No legal systems (officially) compute punishment based on strength of evidence for conviction. The reason is simple: justice is a relationship between an act and its consequences, not a relationship ...
- 160k
5
votes
Is there liability for pure accidents?
To win a negligence claim, the plaintiff needs to prove that the defendant:
had a duty to the plaintiff,
breached that duty by failing to conform to the required standard of conduct (generally the ...
- 151k
5
votes
Legal theory of the accomplice
Errors in the Question
Of course, this is not actually what really happens. What really happens is that the original crime is not tried. It is simply ASSUMED to have taken place and there is a ...
- 92.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible