Sanctions, in
law and legal definition, are penalties or other means of enforcement used to provide incentives for obedience with the
law, or with rules and
regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. ...
s.
Criminal sanctions can take the form of serious
punishment, such as
corporal or
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...
,
incarceration
Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is " false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessar ...
, or severe
fines Fines may refer to:
* Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality
* Fine (penalty)
* Fine, a dated term for a premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term
*Fines, ore or other products with a s ...
. Within the context of
civil law, sanctions are usually monetary fines, levied against a party to a
lawsuit or their attorney, for violating rules of
procedure, or for abusing the
judicial process. The most severe sanction in a civil lawsuit is the
involuntary dismissal,
with prejudice, of a complaining party's
cause of action, or of the responding party's answer. This has the effect of deciding the entire action against the sanctioned party without recourse, except to the degree that an
appeal or
trial ''de novo'' may be allowed because of
reversible error.
As a noun, the term is usually used in the plural form, even if it only refers to a single event: if a
judge fines a party, it is not said that they imposed a sanction, but that they imposed sanctions.
A judge may sanction a party during a legal proceeding, by which it is implied that they impose penalties. In the
United States federal court system, certain types of conduct are sanctionable under Rule 11 of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Conversely and sometimes confusingly, the word may be used to imply "approve of," especially in an official sense. "The law sanctions such behavior" would imply that the behavior spoken of enjoys the specific approval of law.
To sanction implies make a legal agreement. The word is derived from sanctus, to make holy. A legal agreement or sanction imposes approvals, rules, guidelines and penalties on conduct.
References
Bibliography
*
Herbert L. A. Hart, ''The Concept of Law'', Oxford University Press, London, 1961;
* Gerd Spittler, ''Norm und Sanktion. Untersuchungen zum Sanktionsmechanismus'', Walter, Olten-Freiburg, 1967;
*
Norberto Bobbio, ''Sanzione'', Novissimo Digesto, UTET, Torino, XVI, Torino, 1969, 530-540;
*
Niklas Luhmann
Niklas Luhmann (; ; December 8, 1927 – November 6, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and a prominent thinker in systems theory.
Biography
Luhmann was born in Lüneburg, Free State of Prussia, where his father's ...
, ''Rechtssoziologie'', Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 1972;
*
Ota Weinberger, ''Der Sanktionsbegriff und die pragmatische Auswirkung gesellschaftlicher Normen'', in H. Lenk, Hrsg., Normenlogik, Verlag Dokumentation, Pullach bei München, 1974, 89-111;
*
Lawrence M. Friedman, ''The Legal System. A Social Science Perspective'', Russel Sage Foundation, New York, 1975;
* Norberto Bobbio, ''Dalla struttura alla funzione. Nuovi studi di teoria del diritto'', Comunità, Milano, 1977;
*
Vilhelm Aubert, ''On Sanctions'', in “European Yearbook in Law and Sociology”, 1977, 1-19;
*
H. Kelsen
Hans Kelsen (; ; October 11, 1881 – April 19, 1973) was an Austrian jurist, legal philosopher and political philosopher. He was the author of the 1920 Austrian Constitution, which to a very large degree is still valid today. Due to the rise o ...
, ''Allgemeine Theorie der Normen'', Manzsche Verlags- und Universitätsbuchhandlung, Wien, 1979;
* F. D’Agnostino, ''Sanzione'', "Enciclopedia del diritto", XLI, Giuffrè, Milano, 1989, 303-328;
* Ota Weinbeger, ''Rechtslogik'', Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, 1989;
* Charles-Albert Morand, ''Sanction'', “Archives de Philosophie du droit”, XXXV, 1990, 293-312;
* Heike Jung, ''Sanktionensysteme und Menschenrechte'', Haupt, Bern-Stuttgart-Wien, 1992;
* Juan Carlos Bayon, ''Sanction'', Dictionnaire encyclopédique de théorie et de sociologie du droit, L.G.D.J., Paris, 1993, 536-540;
* Realino Marra, ''Sanzione'', "Digesto delle discipline privatistiche. Sezione civile", UTET, Torino, XVIII, 1998, 153-61.
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