30
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 ...
- 22.8k
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.
- 57.2k
14
votes
Are there any non-conventional sources of law?
There is no one answer, but here are some examples.
India is famous for deriving general principles of more important constitutional law concepts that can be used to find constitutional amendments to ...
- 195k
13
votes
Are there any non-conventional sources of law?
There is the concept of natural law. The idea of natural law is that certain law can be derived solely from ethics and innate human intuition of "right" and "wrong".
US law still ...
- 7,336
10
votes
Are there any non-conventional sources of law?
In South Africa we also have Indigenous Laws
I suspect that by all definitions of 'non-conventional' this would apply. The sources of South African law in descending order of authority are as follows.....
- 4,747
9
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, ...
- 35.1k
9
votes
Are there any non-conventional sources of law?
In New Zealand we have https://www.data.govt.nz/toolkit/data-ethics/nga-tikanga-paihere/what-are-tikanga/--"appropriate customary practices or ‘layers of the culture’ developed by Māori ...
- 958
8
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. ...
- 113k
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 ...
- 198k
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 ...
- 198k
7
votes
Are there any non-conventional sources of law?
canada
I will list various sources of law recognized in Canada. Whether you consider these sources "unconventional" depends on your perspective. To many people, these are very conventional ...
- 43.5k
6
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 ...
- 198k
5
votes
What is Jurisprudence?
Legal Theory and Philosophy of Law
There are two different meanings of the word Jurisprudence
A heavy word for the study or knowledge of the law. If a judge or law lecturer were to refer to "the ...
- 1,594
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 ...
- 198k
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 "...
- 35.1k
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 ...
- 198k
5
votes
Accepted
Does acceptance of communication with identifying characteristics originating from a disputed territory imply recognition of that territory?
Your question conflates "recognizing the existence of a territory/organization/state" and "recognizing the geographical boundaries of a territory/organization/state."
Your example ...
- 166
4
votes
Accepted
Does the concept of presidential pardon have a justification in terms of separation between the executive and the judiciary? (France)
The simple legal answer is that the President has this power because the law gives it to them.
Historically, the right of the head of state to grant pardons is a legacy of autocratic monarchical rule:...
- 198k
4
votes
Is there a term for using law as the basis of morality?
Probably the term Legalism is the best short term, as mentioned by others, but to put it into a larger framework, it is part of the second stage of moral reasoning in Kohlberg's stages of moral ...
- 41
4
votes
What's The Law In This Scenario?
Courts, particularly traffic courts, tend to take a police officer's word over that of an accused person. While legally the limit is 70, the driver has very little recourse if the officer claims ...
- 113k
4
votes
In the US are jurors actually judging guilt?
The jury determines guilty or not guilty, which could be phrased as “prosecution has proven the case” or “prosecution has not proven the case.”
Prior to conviction they are supposed to be presumed to ...
- 2,033
4
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 ...
- 113k
3
votes
What is Jurisprudence?
Jurisprudence is the philosophy of law
Jurisprudence is not the same as law just like metaphysics is not physics and theology is not religion.
The study of law is specific to a specific legal system, ...
- 198k
3
votes
What is Jurisprudence?
It depends upon context.
Often, the word "jurisprudence" is used to describe the customary way that a particular judge, or a particular legal body, or a particular legal system, has ...
- 195k
3
votes
Can a judge simply say that industrial farms should treat farm animals well as it is simply right to do so?
There are laws against animal cruelty
What counts as cruel is a social convention that changes over time. It is a fundamental principle of common law jurisdictions (like most of the united-states) ...
- 198k
3
votes
Has punishment for precedent-setting decisions ever been recognized as retroactive enforcement of a new law?
Your premise that "the law did not exist previously" is, from the perspective of how courts work, mistaken. The law always existed, it's just that some people (maybe even judges) mistakenly ...
- 210k
3
votes
Accepted
When does "mental health" factor into penalizing an individual?
It depends on the jurisdiction but, very broadly speaking, the person might be ill such that:
they did not know what they were doing or that what they were doing was wrong (insanity)
their ability to ...
- 14.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible