Unpacking Legal Boundaries with Precision
Explore our regularly updated blog focused on where legal norms apply — and where they don’t. Each article draws from real case law, statutes, and academic commentary, using tools like westlaw, practical law, and westlaw edge to deepen your understanding of legal reach.
Horizontal vs. Vertical Legal Scope – Who Controls Application?
This article examines how horizontal and vertical dimensions influence the application of legal norms — between institutions, jurisdictions, and layers of law. We use tools like westlaw, practical laws, and westlaw twen to illustrate how power dynamics shape legal applicability.
The Scope of Legal Exceptions – When Norms Don’t Apply
This article explores how exceptions define the outer limits of legal norms. From national security to administrative discretion, we analyze how practical law, westlaw edge, and Westlaw Signon help clarify when the law explicitly or implicitly exempts conduct from its reach.
Subject-Matter Scope – Defining What a Legal Norm Covers
This article examines how the subject-matter scope of legal norms determines their legal “territory” — the specific issues or activities that fall under their governance. We analyze how courts and legislatures draw these lines and how tools like westlaw edge and practical law help clarify the boundaries.
Personal Scope of Legal Norms – Who Is Bound and Who Is Protected?
This article explores the concept of personal scope — determining who falls under the rights, duties, and protections of a legal norm. We examine distinctions between natural and legal persons, citizens and non-citizens, and how westlaw, practical laws, and twen westlaw help trace these boundaries in different legal systems.
Temporal Scope – When Legal Norms Begin and End
This article investigates the temporal application of legal norms — when they come into effect, how long they last, and what happens when laws change retroactively. Drawing from westlaw twen materials and practical law resources, we explore how time shapes law’s authority.
The Territorial Scope of Legal Norms
This article explores how legal norms are applied across geographic boundaries, from domestic enforcement to extraterritorial reach. It examines how westlaw legal research, practical law, and jurisdictional doctrines define the physical limits of law in national and transnational contexts.