LS101 Lecture Notes - Legal Fiction, Legal Personality, Nonperson
15 Dec 2013
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No one particular, or true definition of legal person . Lack of clarity can be useful: allows judges to exercise discretion. Expand or limit idea of person depending on desired outcome: category of person can be manipulated. Met-a-phor: a figure of speech in which a name or descriptive word or phrase is transferred to an object or action different from, but analogous to, that to which it is literally applicable. Legal person does not need to be a human: person as a metaphor, not literal expression. In defining legal person , we can define the scope of law. Legal person is the object of legal power. In doing so, law expresses norms and values to society (p. 1745) This function shapes behaviour; reflects social ideals. Problems with law"s expressive power: subject to interpretation, no always provable , mixed and contradictory, evolving and changing. Proof: through law"s expressive power, person becomes a legal fiction .
