In this paper, I analyse the conceptions of Justice in ancient Mesopotamia, the Old Testament, and Archaic Greece to seek a common substrate among the three, and I believe it can be found in the principle of reciprocity. Next, I explain how reciprocity is a mechanism for maintaining social cooperation, whose functioning is supported by Game Theory, Anthropology, and even Primatology. I will try to explain the importance this principle takes on in complex urban societies and how it is used in modern theories of Justice to, finally, approach its usefulness in defining the very idea of Justice.
This essay aims to examine the interpretative argument of the legislator’s intention. We will distinguish six variants of this argument: three variants referring to historical legislators and three variants referring to an ideal, rational legislator. For each of them, we will give examples and explain the values that justify them. Then, we will present the theoretical criticisms directed against each variant: in support of these criticisms, we will alsopresent the results of a recent empirical research carried out in the Italian legalsystem. We will argue that the theoretical criticisms are justified. The variantsreferring to the intention of historical legislators raise conceptual, ontologicaland epistemic problems and, in fact, are rarely employed (at least in Italian caselaw). The variants referring to the ideal legislator, on the other hand, open uproom for judicial discretion.
This article focuses on the so-called “invisible migrant childhood” or “at risk of statelessness”, to refer to those children who have been born in the migratory journey of their mothers and who, due to multiple circumstances, their birth has not been officially registered in any country. This non-registration results in the practical impossibility of determining the nationality, while it also generates difficulties in accessing basic fundamental rights such as education or health. Given the novelty of this phenomenon, the Administrations lack of tools based on domestic law to intervene in accordance with the “best interests of the child”. As the cases analysed in this study show, while international treaties and conventions (such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child) are alsopart of the Spanish legal system, they can be used, not as mere interpretativecriteria but as direct application in the legal arguments of administrative andjudicial decisions.
