Rules allocate decisions to the present while standards hold them open for the future
Evidence
It is true that location on the rules-standards continuum is an important way of allocating discretion between the issuer of the directive and those who must apply it, enforce it, or interpret it. But the difference between rules and standards is also a way of allocating decision-making between the present and the future. When a legislature, agency, or court sets forth a rule, it is making a decision now about what is to be done in the future. And when instead it moves toward the standards end of the continuum, it holds things open for the future and allows for a flexible approach to the problems of tomorrow. — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 354
Categorization
- XREF: Temporal allocation parallels the rigidity versus flexibility tradeoff familiar from constitutional originalism debates about deciding future cases now. — connects to: Legal rules intentionally incorporate arbitrary detail to maximize certainty and predictability. — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 534; Legal directives range from radically open-ended standards to extraordinarily specific rules — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 342; Decision by rule has genuine virtues that formalism deserves credit for. — Frederick Schauer, Formalism, 10 (+1 more)
Related
- Drafters deliberately used flexible standards for timing but specific rules for scope. (similarity 0.81)
- Legal rules intentionally incorporate arbitrary detail to maximize certainty and predictability. (similarity 0.79)
- Decision by rule has genuine virtues that formalism deserves credit for. (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Legal rules intentionally incorporate arbitrary detail to maximize certainty and predictability.
#expands(0.70) — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 534 - Legal directives range from radically open-ended standards to extraordinarily specific rules
#corroborates(0.65) — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 342 - Decision by rule has genuine virtues that formalism deserves credit for.
#complicates(0.55) — Frederick Schauer, Formalism, 10