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Empirical Legal Studies - Science topic
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Questions related to Empirical Legal Studies
Usually, research in legal disciplines is theoretical. A legal scientist has to read tons of papers (primary sources, doctrine etc.) and apply logical methods.
However, do you think is there a field or questions where a legal scientist can apply empirical approach? - experiment, surveys etc?
I am interested in legal science in a strict sense, not areas connected to the law, but falls into criminology, sociology etc.
On 1 July 2012, the preliminary reference procedure was introduced at the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. When lower civil courts face controversial points of law, they may refer a question of interpretation to the Supreme Court and request a preliminary ruling. This way, the Supreme Court should be able to provide legal practice with a faster and more specific response to pressing legal questions than through the ‘ordinary’ procedure.
This preliminary reference procedure is not a modern invention. It was already known in Rome, existed in a specific form in France (référé législatif, where a question of interpretation was referred to the legislator), was used at the Italian Corte Costitutionale and has been a powerful tool for the development of EU law by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg (see the attached blog and article). Furthermore, Protocol 16 to the ECHR will allow highest courts of states that have ratified this Protocol to refer a question of principle to the European Court of Human Rights for an advisory opinion.
I wanted to use ResearchGate for a small comparative exercise. Perhaps you would like to answer the following questions. May lower courts in your country refer a question of interpretation to the highest court(s) in your country? Did such an instrument once exist, or is the introduction of such an instrument currently under consideration in your country?
I am also interested in literature on this subject and in other relevant international examples.
Your help is greatly appreciated,
Ruben
In the US federal judges are appointed for life. A student from France asked me about procedures to remove federal judges who may suffer from a mental disability but who have not committed some sort of crime which would warrant removing them from their positions. It's actually a tricky issue in the US (http://uslaw.blogbaker.com/2014/04/05/federal-judges-are-appointed-for-life-what-if-a-ju).
I was wondering about procedures in other countries.