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:
“Humanism, it seems, is almost impossible in America where material progress is part of the national romance whereas in Europe such progress is relished because it feels nice.”
—Paul West (b. 1930)
“The heritage of the American Revolution is forgotten, and the American government, for better and for worse, has entered into the heritage of Europe as though it were its patrimony—unaware, alas, of the fact that Europe’s declining power was preceded and accompanied by political bankruptcy, the bankruptcy of the nation-state and its concept of sovereignty.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“Never before since Jamestown and Plymouth Rock has our American civilization been in such danger as now.... [The Nazis] have made it clear that not only do they intend to dominate all life and thought in their own country, but also to enslave the whole of Europe, and then to use the resources of Europe to dominate the rest of the world.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)