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The 1st century letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (specifically 2 Corinthians 3:6) refers to the spirit and letter of the law. Though it is not quoted directly, the principle is applied using the words "spirit" and "letter" in context with the legalistic view of the Hebrew Bible. This is the first recorded use of the phrase.
The Spirit of Law (French: De l'esprit des lois, originally spelled De l'esprit des loix [1]), also known in English as The Spirit of [the] Laws, is a treatise on political theory, as well as a pioneering work in comparative law by Montesquieu, published in 1748. [2]
Separation of powers is a political doctrine originating in the writings of Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu in The Spirit of the Laws, in which he argued for a constitutional government with three separate branches, each of which would have defined authority to check the powers of the others.
In his The Spirit of Law, Montesquieu maintained that the separation of state powers should be by its service to the people's liberty: legislative, executive and judicial, [94] [95] while also emphasizing that the idea of separation had for its purpose the even distribution of authority among the several branches of government.
Lopez (1995), [29] a federal law mandating a "gun-free zone" on and around public school campuses was struck down. The Supreme Court ruled that there was no clause in the Constitution authorizing the federal law. This was the first modern Supreme Court opinion to limit the government's power under the Commerce Clause.
The principle was also discussed by Montesquieu in The Spirit of Law (1748). [41] The phrase "rule of law" appears in Samuel Johnson's Dictionary (1755). [42] In 1776, the notion that no one is above the law was popular during the founding of the United States. For example, Thomas Paine wrote in his pamphlet Common Sense that "in America, the ...
The textualist position holds that courts should follow the text of a law rather than attempt to read exceptions into the law in accordance with the legislative intent. Scalia has thus criticized the principle of the Holy Trinity case as "nothing but an invitation to judicial lawmaking". [6] In Public Citizen v.
The government must obey the law. For example, a citizen unhappy with a decision of an administrative authority can ask a court for judicial review. The distinction between public law and private law dates back to Roman law, where the Roman jurist Ulpian (c. 170 – 228) first noted it. [3]