Time Matters: How Time Shapes Law and Regulation

Abstract

Law is often taught, researched, and applied as a linear reality that is not subject to significant alterations.Several constitutions, for example, include various procedural, temporal and substantive limitations to constitutional change, and yet empirical data suggests that flexible constitutions (up to a certain point) actually tend to endure longer than extremely rigid constitutions. Technology is also reshaping legal obligations and asking legislators to rethink the pace at which laws are enacted. The ideas of time as a given variable in law or a linear or reactive view of law tend to be thus oversimplifications of reality. This chapter introduces an interdisciplinary book project that aims to offer an overview of the different ways in which time influences law. This book analyzes the relationship between time, law, and change from four perspectives: that of scholars who have studied the theoretical impact of time on legal interpretation, constitutional change, and lawmaking as such; judges who try to balance the need to accommodate change with the principle of legal certainty and legitimate expectations; legislators who are often required to legislate fast or adopt temporary legislation to respond to social demands or under the pretext of improving the quality of legislation; and the perspective of technology that is giving rise to new challenges in the legal context.