Common law

About: Common law is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 30135 publications have been published within this topic receiving 280701 citations. The topic is also known as: judicial precedent & judge-made law.

Justification and excuse in the criminal law

Abstract: Professor Smith considers a subject of great importance to the criminal law, both as a topic of extensive academic debate and also in the context of the problems faced by the ordinary citizen who may be confronted with a choice between breaking the letter of the law, or seeing others suffer harm. Issues discussed in this text include: the distinction between justification and excuse, and the consequences that may result from it; the "Stephen Waldorf" case in the context of potential resistance to mistakenly applied but lawful force; whether circumstances unknown to the defendant may amount to a defence; judicial interpretation as statutory "let-out" clauses, such as "without reasonable excuse", "dishonesty" and "recklessness"; necessity and duress; "mercy killings" and the judicial discovery of the defence of circumstances, and the future of justification and excuse in case law, legislation or codification.

Judicial enforceability of WTO law in the European Union. Annotation to Case C-149/96, Portugal V. Council

Abstract: Until the entry into force of the WTO Agreements, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) continuously denied the direct effect of the GATT 1947 in the European Community's legal order, in particular arguing that the GATT dispute settlement provisions were characterized by a great degree of flexibility. This case law triggered much debate and criticism, as well as high expectations of the first judgment in which the Court would assess the legal effect of WTO law. In Portugal V. Council, the ECJ did not change its general rule whereby WTO law cannot be relied on to review the legality of acts of the European Community. Setting out a two-step test, the Court first denied that the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding itself obliges the European Community to implement rulings by making them directly enforceable. Second, it denied the possibility of doing so autonomously. However, the Court upheld its case law regarding exceptions to this rule, including the possibility that WTO provisions can serve as a benchmark for reviewing Community acts taken to implement WTO Agreements. This annotation criticizes the ECJ's reasoning, in particular the underlying assumption that WTO law lacks unconditional mandatory force, and the notion of reciprocity. It argues that the judgment is misconceived. Yet, it concludes that, inter alia, the possibility of invoking WTO provisions when reviewing the large number of measures implementing WTO Agreements might open the door towards strengthening the legal effects of WTO law in the Community.

Freedom Suits and Civil Law in Brazil and the United States

Abstract: (2001). Freedom Suits and Civil Law in Brazil and the United States. Slavery & Abolition: Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 66-82.