Europe
European nations regard legal certainty as a fundamental quality of the legal system and a guiding requirement for the rule of law. The concept can be traced through English common law and is recognised in all European legal systems. The concept is recognised in Germany as Rechtssicherheit, in France as sécurité juridique, in Spain as seguridad juridica, in Italy as certezza del diritto, in the Benelux countries as rechtszekerheid, in Sweden as Rättssäkerhet, in Poland as do obowiazujacego prawa, and in Finland as oikeusvarmuuden periaate. Legal certainty is now recognised as one of the general principles of European community law and "requires that all law be sufficiently precise to allow the person - if need be, with appropriate advice - to foresee, to a degree that is reasonable in the circumstances, the consequences which a given action may entail". The principle of legal certainty, and as such the rule of law, requires that:
- laws and decisions must be made public
- laws and decisions must be definite and clear
- the decisions of courts must be regarded as binding
- the retroactivity of laws and decisions must be limited
- legitimate interests and expectations must be protected.
Read more about this topic: Legal Certainty
Famous quotes containing the word europe:
“Is not our role to stand for the one thing which means our own salvation here but with which it will also be possible to save the world, and with which Europe will be able to save itself, namely the preservation of the white man and his state?”
—Hendrik Verwoerd (19011966)
“All the terrors of the French Republic, which held Austria in awe, were unable to command her diplomacy. But Napoleon sent to Vienna M. de Narbonne, one of the old noblesse, with the morals, manners, and name of that interest, saying, that it was indispensable to send to the old aristocracy of Europe men of the same connection, which, in fact, constitutes a sort of free- masonry. M. de Narbonne, in less than a fortnight, penetrated all the secrets of the imperial cabinet.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)
“We go to Europe to be Americanized.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (18031882)