An Introduction to Law

CHAPTER I. THRESHOLD ......................................................................... 13
1. About the Title ................................................................................... 13
2. A Book for Those Who are Lawyers and Those Who are Not........... 14
3. A Minimal Bibliography .................................................................... 14
4. Skip Chapters and Pages .................................................................... 15
5. Philosophy and Methodology ............................................................ 15
6. Law and Furniture.............................................................................. 16
CHAPTER II. WHAT IS LAW? ................................................................... 17
1. A Science of Problems ....................................................................... 17
2. Principles and Values, not “Concepts”............................................... 17
3. Knowing the Law............................................................................... 21
4. Due Process of Law, Soviet Law, and Natural Law........................... 22
5. Concepts and Facts............................................................................. 22
6. Common Law and European Continental Law................................... 23
7. Law-making at International Tribunals.............................................. 25
8. General Comparative Analysis of Domestic
and Some International Tribunals .......................................................... 26
8.1. In General, There is Not an Excessive Workload.................. 26
8.2. Cases are Resolved Promptly - As Cases Go......................... 27
8.3. Errors are Less Frequent........................................................ 27
8.4. The Composition of the Tribunal is Richer ........................... 27
8.5. Independence and Impartiality are Better Assured ................ 29
8.6. There is More Social Control ................................................ 29
8.7. Preparation of Cases .............................................................. 30
8.8. Each Tribunal Makes its Own Rules of Procedure................ 30
8.9. Some Conclusions ................................................................. 30
CHAPTER III. THE FACTS OF THE CASE: FACTS AND EVIDENCE.............. 31
1. The Importance of the Case ............................................................... 31
2. The Importance of the Facts............................................................... 32
3. The Difficulty of Determining the Facts ............................................ 34
4. Analyzing the Evidence that Already Exists...................................... 35
4.1. Lawyers ................................................................................. 36
4.2. Officers and Magistrates........................................................ 37
4.3. “Irrelevant” Facts................................................................... 38
4.4. General Remarks ................................................................... 38
CHAPTER IV. MORE ABOUT THE EVIDENCE OF RIGHTS.......................... 47
1. Introduction ........................................................................................ 47
2. Evidence Unity in Different Proceedings........................................... 51
3. Creation vs. Application of the Law: Truth and Evidence................. 52
4. Dispensing the Evidence.................................................................... 53
5. Evidence in Discretionary and Regulated Powers.............................. 54
6. The “venire contra factum proprium” Doctrine.................................. 55
7. Evidence in Court............................................................................... 55
8. Private Production of Evidence.......................................................... 56
8.1. Testimonies............................................................................ 56
9. Evidence Obtained Illegally............................................................... 56
10. The Informal Argument ................................................................... 57
11. Evidence and Privacy....................................................................... 58
12. Forms of Evidence ........................................................................... 59
12.1. Photographs and Videos ...................................................... 59
12.2. Fax, Telex, etc. .................................................................... 60
12.3. Telephone Recordings ......................................................... 60
12.3.1. Regular Telephone Recordings.................................... 60
12.3.2. Cellular Telephone and Other Recordings................... 60
12.4. Other Forms of Evidence..................................................... 61
CHAPTER V. HOW TO READ A JUDGMENT............................................... 63
1. Knowing How to Read....................................................................... 63
1.1. Knowing How to Read the Beginning................................... 63
1.2. Knowing How to Read the End ............................................. 64
1.3. The Illegible Small Print........................................................ 64
1.4. The Hidden Print ................................................................... 65
1.5. Knowing How to Read What is Evident................................ 65
1.6. Knowing How to Read What has Not Been Written ............. 65
2. Putting Knowing How to Read into Practice… ................................. 66
2.1. … Upon Reading a Law........................................................ 66
2.2. … Upon Reading a Contract: See the Facts........................... 66
2.3. … Upon Reading Books........................................................ 67
3. The Legal Decision ............................................................................ 67
3.1. The Formation of the Initial Hypothesis................................ 68
3.2. The Grounding Process ......................................................... 68
3.3. The Explanation of the Decision ........................................... 70
3.4. The Legal Policy behind the Decision and its Explanation ... 72
3.5. Reading a Judgment............................................................... 73
4. The Difficulty in Finding the Object of the Judgment
(What the Judge Decides, What he Does).............................................. 74
5. What to Look For: What the Judgment Is or Decides ........................ 74
6. Discovering the Judgment.................................................................. 75
6.1. Knowing How to Read .......................................................... 76
6.2. Description and Factual and Legal Reasoning....................... 76
7. What the Judgment Says “More” or “Less”....................................... 77
7.1. Chocobar ............................................................................... 78
7.2. Peralta ................................................................................... 80
7.3. Allevato.................................................................................. 80
7.4. Pereyra .................................................................................. 81
8. The Interest in the Subject or in the Judgment................................... 83
8.1. Dictum and Holding .............................................................. 84
8.2. Form vs. Substance................................................................ 84
9. The Excess of Information ................................................................. 84
9.1. The Official Collections of Case Law ................................... 86
9.2. Selecting by Book: Its Limitations ........................................ 86
9.3. The Selection by Means of Review Summaries .................... 87
9.4. The Personal Selection: Its Problems .................................... 87
9.4.1. Being Informed on a Daily Basis ................................ 87
CHAPTER VI. LANGUAGE AS A METHOD................................................. 89
1. The Need for Methodology................................................................ 89
2. The Open Structure of Ordinary and Legal Language
3. Common Usage
4. The Open Structure of Language
5. Common Usage and Freedom of Stipulation
6. Defining Legal Words as a Methodological Problem
7. Elements to Be Considered in Stipulating Definitions
8. Definition and Classification
CHAPTER VII. THE “CERTAINTY” THAT POWER GIVES .......................... 99
1. Certainty............................................................................................. 99
2. At Power’s Service........................................................................... 100
3. The Certainty in Power of the Moment............................................ 100
4. The Law at Power’s Service ............................................................ 101
5. The Emotional, Political and Axiological Use of Language ............ 102
6. “Laws” that are Not Laws ................................................................ 103
CHAPTER VIII. THE GROWING INTERNATIONALIZATION OF LAW......... 105
1. Introduction............................................................................................
2. Economic and Legal Supranational Reality
at the Beginning of the XXIst Century.................................................. 105
2.1. Individual Rights in Supranational Law .............................. 107
2.2. The Coordination
of National and International Legislation ................................... 108
2.3. Growing International Regulation ....................................... 109
3. Different Supranational Sources ...................................................... 110
3.1. Treaties in General............................................................... 110
3.2. The Specific Case of the American
Convention on Human Rights .................................................... 111
3.3. Other Human Rights Conventions....................................... 112
3.4. Case Law and Supranational Consultative Opinions........... 113
3.5. Transactions and International Compromises...................... 114
4. General Characteristics .................................................................... 115
4.3. Legislative and Jurisdictional Application .......................... 117
4.4. Supranational Character ...................................................... 118
4.5. No Unilateral Withdrawal.................................................... 119
5. The Coordination of National Justice with Supranational Justice.... 120
5.1. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights....................... 120
5.2. The “Effectiveness Terms” of the Treaties.......................... 121
5.3. Internal Effectiveness of the Consultative Opinions............ 122
5.4. Prevailing over “Any” Rule of Internal Law....................... 122
5.5. Its Application via National Case Law................................ 122
5.6. Measures of “Another Nature” ............................................ 123
5.7. Right to Judgment within a Reasonable Term..................... 124
CHAPTER IX. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE
IN INTERNATIONAL LAW....................................................................... 125
1. The Qualitative and Quantitative Growth of International Law....... 125
2. The Evolution-Involution of Responsibility..................................... 125
3. Responsibility for Breaching Human Rights.................................... 126
4. In re Birt........................................................................................... 127
5. In re Verbitsky vs. Belluscio............................................................. 128
5.1. Its Origin.............................................................................. 128
5.2. Residual Effects................................................................... 128
6. Mendoza........................................................................................... 128
7. International Foreign Investments Agreements................................ 129
8. Foreign Courts.................................................................................. 129
9. External Credit Contracts................................................................. 131
10. How to Charge Accretions ............................................................. 131
CHAPTER X. SUMMING-UP.................................................................... 133
1. Roman Law...................................................................................... 133
2. Due Process...................................................................................... 133
3. The First jus gentium and the Law of the Sea .................................. 134
4. Legal Dogma.................................................................................... 134
5. Researching Language ..................................................................... 134
6. The Common Law ........................................................................... 134
7. The Holocaust .................................................................................. 135
8. International Piracy, Taking of Hostages, etc. ................................. 135
9. Genocide, Torture, Forced Disappearance of People,
Apartheid, etc....................................................................................... 136
10. Towards a Synthesis of Philosophical Conflicts ............................ 136
EPILOGUE ............................................................................................. 139
1. The Premises .................................................................................... 139
1.1 Sapere vedere ....................................................................... 139
1.2. The Equality of the Common Law,
the European Continental Law and Ours.................................... 139
1.3. Short Bibliography .............................................................. 140
2. My First Steps .................................................................................. 141
2.1. The Hypothesis of a Future Law Student ............................ 141
2.2. Studying and Teaching Law................................................ 141
2.3. The Answer to the Youthful Question.
The First Lesson of Life ............................................................. 142
2.4. Studying Always Studying. But it is Not Enough ............... 142
2.5. The Second Lesson: Trying to See Reality.......................... 143
3. My Legal Learning........................................................................... 145
3.1. The Public Function............................................................. 145
3.2. Legal Representation and Advice to the Public and Private
Sector.......................................................................................... 145
3.3. Stage at the French Conseil d’Etat ...................................... 145
3.4. Member of International Administrative Tribunals............. 146
3.5. Teaching and Research........................................................ 147
3.6. The Lessons of Experience.................................................. 148
4. The Essays. The Times .................................................................... 148