Are There Cross‐Cultural Legal Principles? Modal Reasoning Uncovers Procedural Constraints on Law

• DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13024
• Publication Date: 2021-08-11T12:42:30Z
• Authors: Ivar R. Hannikainen; Kevin P. Tobia; Guilherme da F. C...; Raff Donelson; Vilius Dranseika; Markus Kneer; Niek Strohmaier; Piotr Bystranowski; Kristina Dolinina; Bartosz Janik; Sothie Keo; Eglė Lauraitytė; Alice Liefgreen; Maciej Próchnicki; Alejandro Rosas; Noel Struchiner
• Keywords: Variation (astronomy)

Abstract Despite pervasive variation in the content of laws, legal theorists and anthropologists have argued that laws share certain abstract features even speculated law may be a human universal. In present report, we evaluate this thesis through an experiment administered 11 different countries. Are there cross‐cultural principles law? between‐subjects design, participants ( N = 3,054) were asked whether could violate procedural (e.g., applied retrospectively or unintelligible laws), also are any such laws. Confirming our preregistered prediction, people reported cannot exist, but (paradoxically) These results document cross‐culturally –linguistically robust beliefs about concept which defy people's grasp how systems function practice.