Law, Bioethics, and Human Rights - Part I

Law, Bioethics, and Human Rights - Part I

• This is a lecture series on the subject matter of law, bioethics, and human rights.
• The course is taught by Professor Ettore William Di Mauro.
• It's broken down into parts, with the material provided here being Part I.

Social Reality and Legal System - Norms and Behavior

• Norms are commands or external impositions that guide human actions.
• Behavior is a human act.
• The function of norms is to evaluate human behavior.
• Behaviors are judged as just/unjust, moral/immoral, lawful/unlawful.
• Each norm is linked to a rule, with various examples including conduct rules (e.g., marriage), organization rules (e.g., company meetings), and validity rules (e.g., contract nullification).

Behavior Evaluation Presumes Knowledge of Rules

• Legal rules are crucial for civil coexistence.
• The combination of legal rules and principles creates a complex, hierarchical legal system.
• Legal rules are enforced via positive (e.g. investment incentives) and negative sanctions (e.g., imprisonment, compensation).

Ius, Morality, and Non-Juridical Rules

• Legal rules are intertwined with ethics, economics, religion, and sociology.
• Distinguishing legal rules from social or moral rules is challenging.
• Ius (law) is distinct but has a moral component.
• Ius prevents and resolves social conflicts.
• Community moral consensus is crucial for law's effectiveness.
• Law and morality are complementary concepts.

Legal Language and Common Language

• Legal language often differs from everyday language.
• Specialized legal terms (e.g., "person," "individual," "interest," "promise") have specific meanings.
• This leads to nuances known as legal qualifications.

Legal Rule, Article, Norm - Rules and Principles as Norms

• Legal rules are statements part of the source of law (e.g., legal articles).
• Legal articles are parts of a law's internal structure/partitions (e.g., Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
• Laws are structured into numerous articles, paragraphs and subparagraphs for clarity, for which a hierarchy of norms exists.
• Ius (law) presumes the existence of norms, rules, and principles.

Legal Norm (Norma Giuridica)

• A legal norm is created through the combination of a legal rule and interpretation.
• To understand a legal norm, apply the if-then (if A, then B) structure: A (actual situation) leads to B (legal effects).
  -Example: Article 896 of Civil Code (c.c.) about tree roots.

Legal Rules and Principles

• Legal rules require specific behaviors for satisfaction (all-or-nothing).
• Legal principles aim for an optimal value realization, often flexible and open-ended.
• An example of this would be a principle that focuses on protecting health (e.g., vaccination requirements).

Each Legal Rule Is Attributable to at Least One Principle

• Legal rules derive from (and relate to) principles
• Rules provide ways to achieve principles.
• A principle connects rules to a common value.
• No rule exists in isolation from a related principle.

The Legal System is Open

• In a constitutional framework, all rules must align with constitutional principles.
• The legal system is open, constrained by rules for legislative production and the Constitution.
• There is a plurality of rules and principles corresponding to a plurality of values.
• Law is entwined with cultural values relevant to common living.

The Balance of Principles

• Balancing competing principles is necessary when dealing with legal cases.
• The balancing criterion is reasonableness.
• Reasonableness determines the application of an appropriate rule within the legal system.

Reasonableness

• Reasonableness embodies an inherent preference for applying legal rules.
• The underpinning value of reasonableness lies in the person (Article 2 of the Constitution).

The Sources of Law

• Sources of law are acts or facts deemed legally relevant for creating, changing, or removing legal norms.
• Sources are identified through other sources, forming a hierarchical chain.
• This hierarchy is principled, with the Constitution at the top.

The Hierarchy of Sources of Law

• List of sources includes: Constitutional sources, European sources, Primary sources, Secondary sources, and Tertiary sources.
• This hierarchy is important because it establishes a precedence and order across different forms of laws, ensuring the consistent application of laws.

The Constitution

• The Constitution is at the top of the legal hierarchy.
• Constitutional norms (principles, rules) apply directly.
• The Constitution is "rigid;" specific procedures are required to amend it.
• The republican form of government cannot be altered.

Sources of European Union Law

• European Union sources (treaties, principles, regulations, directives) often take precedence over national laws.
• European laws must also comply with the nation's fundamental principles.
• European and national sources form a unitary whole.

European Union Competence

• The EU's competences are limited based on the principles of subsidiarity and attribution.
  • Subsidiarity: the EU acts only when member states cannot sufficiently achieve goals.
  • Attribution: the EU can only act within areas specifically assigned by member states.

Regulations and Directives

• Regulations are mandatory, directly applicable in all EU member states.
• Directives require national implementation; if a nation fails to implement a directive properly the EU can hold the nation accountable.

Regional Laws and Customs

• Regional laws apply to areas not reserved by the constitution to the state.
• Customs result from repeated or consistent behaviors (usus) with a conviction that the behavior is legally necessary (opinio iuris), which is enforced via law or regulations.

International Sources

• International customs rank high, comparable to constitutional norms.
• International treaties are binding within a country once ratified.
• International agreements must not contravene the principles of the Constitution.
• Examples of international treaties include ones on UN, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Fundamental Principles

• Key foundational principles (personalism, solidarity, democracy, legality and division of power, equality) form the legal framework.

Personalism and Solidarity

• Personalism and solidarity are intertwined.
• The recognition of the human person underpins the legal system; it influences all legal processes.

Democracy

• Democracy demands free deliberations with majority rule and freedom of the individuals vote.
• Democracy's basis rests on principles of equality and individual personhood.
• Free participation from every individual is paramount to a democratic state.

Legality and Division of Powers

• Legality is adherence to the law and respect for the legal system.
  • The division of powers prevents abuse.
  • The separation of powers ensures that different branches of government have designated roles.
  • This separation of powers among three branches (executive, legislative, and judicial) is critical.

Equality

• Equality is a fundamental principle, prohibiting discrimination.
  • Formal equality: equality before the law regardless of background/identity.
  • Substantial equality: ensuring everyone has equal opportunities and addressing barriers to opportunities.
• Equality ensures full development of the human person.

Equality is Violated

• Inequality occurs when equal situations are treated differently, or when unequal situations are treated equally.
• Correcting inequality is a duty of the state.

Equality Applications

• Applications of equality principle in different situations, some of which include: equality and surrogacy, embryo treatment, and same-sex families.

Explore the intersection of law, bioethics, and human rights in this illuminating lecture. Taught by Professor Ettore William Di Mauro, this first part introduces essential norms and the evaluation of human behavior. Understand how legal rules shape societal conduct and morality.