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Hage, Jaap --- "Legal reasoning*" [2012] ELECD 1004; in Smits, M. Jan (ed), "Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law, Second Edition" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012) 521

Book Title: Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law, Second Edition

Editor(s): Smits, M. Jan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849804158

Section: Chapter 42

Section Title: Legal reasoning*

Author(s): Hage, Jaap

Number of pages: 17

Abstract/Description:

Legal reasoning can be studied from several points of view. It is for instance possible to look at the brain processes of somebody engaged in legal reasoning. This approach may be interesting for neurologists, but has as yet little relevance for lawyers. Another approach would be to investigate which mental processes are involved in the process of reaching a decision in a legal case (Hogarth, 1971; Crombag et al., 1977; Koppen and de Keijser, 2002). A third way to look at legal reasoning is to study the argumentation by means of which a legal conclusion is supported. It is not necessarily so that the arguments adduced for a legal conclusion reflect the mental process through which this conclusion was reached. In this connection it is customary to distinguish between the context of discovery and the context of justification. The context of discovery deals with the psychological side of legal reasoning, while the context of justification concerns the justification of legal conclusions. Often the context of justification is identified with the arguments produced for a conclusion, but these arguments can also have a function other than to justify their conclusions, namely to make a legal decision acceptable for the parties involved (Witteveen, 1988).


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