Defamation law in a changing society: the case of Youssoupoff v Metro-Goldwyn Mayer

Legal Studies ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-319
Author(s):  
Leslie Kim Treiger-Bar-Am
Keyword(s):  
English Society ◽  
Law And Morality ◽  
The Law ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Judicial Recognition ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Defamation Law ◽  
Changing Society

Defamation law offers a unique view of society and the changes it undergoes. When a claim of reputational injury is made, the case exposes the prejudices alive in the particular society at hand; and when the law deems a claim actionable, it recognises and, at some level, lends credence to the prejudices held. The case of Youssoupoff v Metro-Goldwyn Mayer is a case in point. The claim by Princess Youssoupoff in 1934 that an imputation of rape or seduction is libelous reveals underlying currents in English society at the time as to class, nation and gender. The judicial recognition of the claim, and the legal and extra- legal reactions to the claim at the time and since, further raise for examination the relationship between law and morality: to be recognised as defamatory, must an allegation impute immorality to the plaintiff? Should the law of defamation recognise societal prejudices that are real, even if deemed by lawmakers and the judiciary invalid? Is it the function of the law to mirror the society in which it is produced or to carry it forward?

The Nature of Legal Philosophy

2021 ◽  
pp. 7-17
Author(s):  
Robert Alexy
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Legal Philosophy ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Third ◽  
Normative System ◽  
Law And Morality ◽  
Systematic Reflection ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship

Philosophy is general and systematic reflection about what there is, what ought to be done or is good, and how knowledge about both is possible. Legal philosophy raises these questions with respect to the law. In so doing, legal philosophy is engaged in reasoning about the nature of law. The arguments addressed to the question of the nature of law revolve around three problems. The first problem addresses the question: in what kinds of entities does the law consist, and how are these entities connected such that they form the overarching entity we call ‘law’? The answer is that law consists of norms as meaning contents which form a normative system. The second problem addresses the question of how norms as meaning contents are connected with the real world. The third problem addresses the correctness or legitimacy of law, and, by this, the relationship between law and morality.

scholarly journals Fourteenth-Century Promises

1976 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morris S. Arnold
Keyword(s):  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Medieval Literature ◽  
English Society ◽  
The Common ◽  
Law And Morality ◽  
The Law

We are all familiar with the paradox that while medieval English society set great store in promises and their performance, the law of its central courts paid them little attention. The marital arrangement, which could be undone only rarely; the system we have learned to call feudalism, infidelity to which was sometimes called felony; the heavy emphasis in medieval literature on keeping faith: all these support the proposition that an important tenet of medieval morality was that promises ought to be kept. Yet the common law of promises was curiously retarded, thus creating what seems an odd gap between law and morality.

The Testimony of Women in the Qurʾan

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-29
Author(s):  
Huseyin Halil
Keyword(s):  
Islamic Law ◽  
Women And Gender ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Original Interpretation ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Ibn Hazm

In recent years, as debates over Islamic legal interpretations have moved to the forefront, especially in places where the expanded application of Islamic law is on the agenda, the issue of women’s testimony has received particular attention. Most jurists arrived at the opinion that women were less trustworthy and less appropriate as legal witnesses than their male counterparts, and so have distinguished between male and female testimony in terms of sex. In this paper I will examine the relationship between ‘gender’ and ‘testimony’ with regard to this sex-based distinction, and as such I will explain why women are no less discerning than men as witnesses in some cases. My purpose is not, and cannot be, to engage in an original interpretation of the law or to sit in judgement on how others have understood the rules of their religion. Rather, I approach the topic of testimony, women, and gender as a student of the history of Islamic law. I argue that the Qurʾan deals with women in an egalitarian and non-discriminatory fashion in terms of testimony and legal affairs, through reference to certain verses, such as al-Nūr (Q 24:6) and al-Nisā’ (Q 4:15). While Ẓāhirisim, including Ibn Ḥazm, and Izzet Derveze follow this egalitarian approach, the four legal schools of the Ḥanafī, Shāfiʿī, Mālikī, and Ḥanbalī do not, and instead claim that women’s testimony cannot be accepted in some circumstances, such as cases of ḥadd, qadhf (slander), and qiṣāṣ (retaliation).

Fraternal Bonds

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Capp
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
Informal Support ◽  
Family Solidarity ◽  
Economic Distress ◽  
Practical Support ◽  
English Society ◽  
Physical Danger ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter explores first the rights and responsibilities of male heirs in the landed class, and the reciprocal obligations of their younger brothers. The relationship was seen as founded on the concept of family solidarity and support. The chapter examines families where heirs took their responsibilities very seriously, and outlines the corresponding services provided by their siblings. But there was rivalry too, for younger brothers often accused heirs of failing to honour their obligations, and many heirs felt equally aggrieved, burdened by inherited debts and dismissing their siblings as idle and feckless. The chapter then turns to ordinary families, exploring practical support by brothers in such contexts as marriage, work, economic distress, and sickness. Other brothers sought to rescue siblings in physical danger or entangled in the law. The chapter demonstrates that informal support by siblings, hitherto rarely explored in depth, played a significant role in English society.

scholarly journals Creating a Virtuous Leviathan: The Party, Law, and Socialist Core Values

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (01) ◽  
pp. 41-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delia LIN ◽  
Susan TREVASKES
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Communist Party ◽  
Thomas Hobbes ◽  
Core Values ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Xi Jinping ◽  
Law And Morality ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Law Making ◽  
Do So

AbstractIn recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has declared that its governance must dominate over all aspects of law-making and enforcement, declaring that its leadership must be implemented across the entire process of governing the country in accordance with the law. Contemporaneous to this new way of thinking about the law-Party nexus is a propaganda push to integrate moral values into the law. This paper is about moralizing governance in the Xi Jinping era. It explores the ideology behind the promotion of this morals–law integration, focusing on the Socialist Core Values in the legal realm under the current Xi Jinping administration. We do so from two interrelated perspectives. The first examines the relationship between law and morality. Here, we argue that the Party’s calls for a law–morality amalgam can be understood as a form of “pan-moralism.” The second looks at the supremacy of Party rule, extending the theory of the “Leviathan” proposed by Thomas Hobbes to take into account the Party’s morality push. This two-pronged argument enables us to assert that the Xi Jinping administration is creating a “virtuous Leviathan.”

The Relationship of Digit Ratio (2D:4D) and Gender-Role Orientation in Four National Samples

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan J. Troche ◽  
Nina Weber ◽  
Karina Hennigs ◽  
Carl-René Andresen ◽  
Thomas H. Rammsayer
Keyword(s):  
Gender Role ◽  
Sex Role ◽  
Role Orientation ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Gender Role Orientation ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Fourth Finger ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. The ratio of second to fourth finger length (2D:4D ratio) is sexually dimorphic with women having higher 2D:4D ratio than men. Recent studies on the relationship between 2D:4D ratio and gender-role orientation yielded rather inconsistent results. The present study examines the moderating influence of nationality on the relationship between 2D:4D ratio and gender-role orientation, as assessed with the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, as a possible explanation for these inconsistencies. Participants were 176 female and 171 male university students from Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden ranging in age from 19 to 32 years. Left-hand 2D:4D ratio was significantly lower in men than in women across all nationalities. Right-hand 2D:4D ratio differed only between Swedish males and females indicating that nationality might effectively moderate the sexual dimorphism of 2D:4D ratio. In none of the examined nationalities was a reliable relationship between 2D:4D ratio and gender-role orientation obtained. Thus, the assumption of nationality-related between-population differences does not seem to account for the inconsistent results on the relationship between 2D:4D ratio and gender-role orientation.

The relationship between cytokine profile and gender, age, and subtype, in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Endoscopy ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Scully ◽  
S O'Brien ◽  
EM Quigley ◽  
PWN Keeling ◽  
TG Dinan
Keyword(s):  
Irritable Bowel Syndrome ◽  
Cytokine Profile ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Irritable Bowel ◽  
The Relationship

The Relationship between Body Image and Exercise Adherence in Fitness Centre Exercising Sample

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (80) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasa Jankauskienė ◽  
Brigita Miežienė
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Exercise Adherence ◽  
Physical Activity Promotion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Physique Anxiety ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Activity Promotion ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Body Self ◽  
The Relationship

Research background and hypothesis. The analysis of factors which might infl uence exercise adherence is important issue for physical activity promotion. Studies show that exercisers’ body image is important factor associated with well being, exercise motivation and specifi c exercise–related behaviour.Research aim was is to examine the relationship between exercise adherence, body image and social physique anxiety in a sample of fi tness centre participants. Research methods. Members of fi tness centres (n = 217, 66 of them were women) provided their answers on exercise experience, in three subscales (appearance evaluation, appearance orientation and overweight preoccupation) of The Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ-AS; Brown et al., 1990) and Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS; Hart et al., 1989). Mean age of the sample was 29.02 (9.85) years (range = 18–68 years).Research results. Women demonstrated higher appearance orientation, overweight preoccupation and social physique anxiety compared to men. However, we observed no signifi cant differences in appearance evaluation, appearance orientation and overweight preoccupation in the groups of different exercise experience of men and women. When overweight respondents (≥ 25 kg / m²) were excluded from the analysis, there were no statistically signifi cant differences observed in body image and social physique anxiety in exercise experience groups of men and women. Exercising longer than 6 years signifi cantly predicted overweight preoccupation [95% CI: 1.25–16.94] controlled by age and gender. Discussion and conclusions. Exercising men demonstrated more positive body image and lower social physique anxiety compared to women, except for appearance evaluation. There were observed no body image and social physique relationships with exercise adherence observed in the sample of fi tness centre participants, however, exercise experience longer than 6 years predicted overweight preoccupation.Keywords: body image concerns, exercise experience, self-presentation.

A Comparative Overview of the Fair Wear and Tear Exception: the Duty of Holders of Temporary Interests to Preserve Property

2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-100
Author(s):  
Raffaele Caterina
Keyword(s):  
Common Core ◽  
Complete Solution ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Private Ownership ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Personal Rights ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
Long Life ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship

“A system of private ownership must provide for something more sophisticated than absolute ownership of the property by one person. A property owner needs to be able to do more than own it during his lifetime and pass it on to someone else on his death.”1 Those who own things with a long life quite naturally feel the urge to deal in segments of time. Most of the owner's ambitions in respect of time can be met by the law of contract. But contract does not offer a complete solution, since contracts create only personal rights. Certain of the owner's legitimate wishes can be achieved only if the law allows them to be given effect in rem—that is, as proprietary rights. Legal systems have responded differently to the need for proprietary rights limited in time. Roman law created usufruct and other iura in re aliena; English law created different legal estates. Every system has faced similar problems. One issue has been the extent to which the holder of a limited interest should be restricted in his or her use and enjoyment in order to protect the holders of other interests in the same thing. A common core of principles regulates the relationship between those who hold temporary interests and the reversioners. For instance, every system forbids holder of the possessory interest to damage the thing arbitrarily. But other rules are more controversial. This study focuses upon the rules which do not forbid, but compel, certain courses of action.

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