Standards demand qualitative appraisal, whereas rules only need factual findings.

Evidence

Unlike a rule, the application of a standard requires something more than a determination merely of the happening or non-happening of physical or mental events. It requires a comparision of the quality or tendency of what happened in the particular instance with what is believed to be the quality or tendency of happenings in like situations. A standard may be defined broadly as a legal direction which can be applied only by making, in addition to a finding of what happened or is happening in the particular situation, a qualitative appraisal of those happenings in terms of their probable consequences, moral justification, or other aspect of Even more obviously than the inchoate rule, the standard involves a postponement of decision until the matter can be judged from the perspective of the point of application. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 2687

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the rule-standard distinction on the crisp axis of qualitative appraisal versus event finding.
• XREF: Foundational doctrinal vocabulary for legal interpretation coursework. — connects to: Inchoate rules postpone policy and delegate power to addressees. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2680; The underlying standard keeps measuring an elaborated rule’s adequacy. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2698; Discretion differs by whether the actor must relate reasons across decisions. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2748