State Amends for Lawful Harm Doing

<p>This essay explores the justifications for offering amends to victims of lawfully caused harm and the nature of amends in such contexts. In particular, we examine instances in which a state actor commits a grave, but lawful, harm to another, exploring why and how the state ought to respond...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Colleen Murphy, Jennifer K. Robbennolt, Lesley Wexler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2017-08-01
Series:Oñati Socio-Legal Series
Subjects:
Online Access:http://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/800
Description
Summary:<p>This essay explores the justifications for offering amends to victims of lawfully caused harm and the nature of amends in such contexts. In particular, we examine instances in which a state actor commits a grave, but lawful, harm to another, exploring why and how the state ought to respond to victims of lawful harm. This aspect of harm doing is often overlooked, but directly addressing the lawful harm that states cause is a vital part of an appropriate state response to having caused grave, though lawful, harm. First, we explore some general reasons why making amends is a morally appropriate response to lawful harm doing. Second, having justified why states ought to respond to the lawful harm they create, we move to outline a set of appropriate responses. These responses are grounded in the empirical literature on amends and apology and satisfy a number of the moral reasons it may be appropriate for states to offer amends. We offer some specific suggestions for managing amends in the military and police settings, though the basic elements of our proposal might also help inform response to the wider spectrum of lawful harms imposed by the state.</p><hr /><p>Este ensayo analiza las justificaciones para ofrecer una compensaci&oacute;n a v&iacute;ctimas de da&ntilde;os legales y la naturaleza de las compensaciones en estos contextos. En particular, se exploran las instancias en las que un actor estatal comete un perjuicio grave, pero legal, analizando por qu&eacute; y c&oacute;mo deber&iacute;a responder el Estado a las v&iacute;ctimas de perjuicio legal. A menudo se obvia este aspecto de los perjuicios causados, pero abordar directamente el perjuicio legal provocado por el Estado es fundamental para que los Estados den una respuesta adecuada a los da&ntilde;os graves, aunque legales, causados. En primer lugar, se analizan razones generales por las que compensar es una respuesta moralmente apropiada a los da&ntilde;os legales causados. En segundo lugar, tras justificar que el Estado deber&iacute;a responder del perjuicio legal que ha causado, se esbozan una serie de respuestas apropiadas. Estas respuestas se basan en la literatura emp&iacute;rica sobre compensaciones y disculpas, y satisfacen un n&uacute;mero de razones morales que podr&iacute;an ser apropiadas para que los Estados ofrezcan compensaciones. Se ofrecen algunas sugerencias espec&iacute;ficas para gestionar las compensaciones en el &aacute;mbito militar y policial, aunque los elementos b&aacute;sicos de esta propuesta podr&iacute;an ayudar a dar una respuesta a otros &aacute;mbitos m&aacute;s amplios de da&ntilde;os legales causados por el Estado.</p><p><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN</strong>: <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=2942375" target="_blank">https://ssrn.com/abstract=2942375</a></p>
ISSN:2079-5971