The Argumentative Status of Foreign Legal Arguments
This paper argues that the citation of foreign legal sources in judicial decisions is not essentially a free-standing justification. Rather it gives additional support to arguments that can be based on existing domestic legal sources by showing that these illustrate a principle or value shared by a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Utrecht University School of Law
2012-05-01
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| Series: | Utrecht Law Review |
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| Online Access: | http://www.utrechtlawreview.org/articles/10.18352/ulr.192/ |
| Summary: | This paper argues that the citation of foreign legal sources in judicial decisions is not essentially a free-standing justification. Rather it gives additional support to arguments that can be based on existing domestic legal sources by showing that these illustrate a principle or value shared by a number of other legal systems. Legal development does not work simply by reformulating the rules by borrowing words or rules from other jurisdictions. Law develops by re-interpreting existing principles and rules in the current context of the legal system as a whole. The article draws on the work of Markesinis and Waldron and on the European Legal Development project which the author led with Professor David Ibbetson. |
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| ISSN: | 1871-515X |