{{Short description|Legal concept}} {{Judicial interpretation}} The concept of '''reasonableness''' has two related meanings in law and political theory:
# As a legal norm, it is used "for the assessment of such matters as actions, decisions, and persons, rules and institutions, [and] also arguments and judgments."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Reasonableness and law |date=2009 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-8499-7 |editor-last=Bongiovanni |editor-first=Giorgio |series=Law and philosophy library |location=Dordrecht Heidelberg}}</ref> # As a regulative idea, it "requires... that all factors that might be relevant in answering a practical question be considered and... that they be assembled in a correct relation to each other in order to justify [a judgement]."<ref name=":0" />
''Reasonableness'' should not be conflated with ''rationality''.<ref name=":0" />
== Political theory == Reasonableness has been discussed by political thinkers such as John Rawls (in his 1993 ''Political Liberalism''),<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Moore |first=Margaret |date=1996 |title=On Reasonableness |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-5930.1996.tb00159.x |journal=Journal of Applied Philosophy |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=167–178 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-5930.1996.tb00159.x |issn=0264-3758|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boettcher |first=James W. |date=2004 |title=What is reasonableness? |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0191453704045756 |journal=Philosophy & Social Criticism |language=en |volume=30 |issue=5–6 |pages=597–621 |doi=10.1177/0191453704045756 |s2cid=146271626 |issn=0191-4537|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":0" /> T. M. Scanlon,<ref name=":1" /> Brian Barry<ref name=":1" /> and Georg Henrik von Wright.<ref name=":0" />
== Law == The notion of "reasonableness" is omnipresent in European law, and has also affected "international treaties and general customs".<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Zorzetto |first=Silvia |date=2015 |title=Reasonableness |journal=Italian Law Journal |volume=1 |pages=107}}</ref> Examples of its use can be found in canon and medieval law, suggesting roots going back to Ancient Rome.<ref name=":2" />
=== Standards and doctrines === Standards and doctrines requiring reasonableness include:
{{div col|colwidth=20em}} *Reasonability *Reasonable accommodation *Reasonable act<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable>Thomas Johnson Michie. "Reasonable-Reasonably". Garland and McGehee (eds). The American and English Encyclopaedia of Law. Second Edition. Edward Thompson Company. 1903. Volume 23. Pages [https://archive.org/details/cu31924061132621/page/946/mode/1up 946] and 947</ref> *Reasonable appearance of danger<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable care<ref>Garland and McGehee (eds). "Reasonable Care". The American and English Encyclopaedia of Law. Second Edition. Edward Thompson Company. 1903. Volume 23. Pages [https://archive.org/details/cu31924061132621/page/947/mode/1up Page 947].</ref> *Reasonable cause<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> or reasonable and probable cause<ref name=WoodRenton1908p378>Wood Renton and Robertson (eds). Encyclopaedia of the Laws of England. 2nd Edition. 1908. vol 12. [https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofl12jacouoft/page/378/mode/1up?view=theater p 378].</ref> *Reasonable and competent support<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable creature<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable danger<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable diligence<ref>Garland and McGehee (eds). "Reasonable Diligence". The American and English Encyclopaedia of Law. Second Edition. Edward Thompson Company. 1903. Volume 23. Pages [https://archive.org/details/cu31924061132621/page/947/mode/1up Page 947].</ref> *Reasonable doubt *Reasonable expectation<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> (Legitimate expectation is sometimes called reasonable expectation.)<ref>Alexander Brown, A Theory of Legitimate Expectations for Public Administration, Oxford University Press, 2017, [https://books.google.com/books?id=IhFADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 p 4].</ref> *Reasonable facilities<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/><ref name=WoodRenton1908p378/> *Reasonable fitness<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable mind<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing *Reasonable person (or reasonable man)<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable person model *Reasonable portion<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable possibility<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonably practicable<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable and probable damage<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable and probable grounds *Reasonable provocation<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable prudence<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable question<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable rates<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable regulation<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable right of way<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable skill<ref>Garland and McGehee (eds). "Reasonable Skill". The American and English Encyclopaedia of Law. Second Edition. Edward Thompson Company. 1903. Volume 23. Pages [https://archive.org/details/cu31924061132621/page/971/mode/1up Page 971].</ref> *Reasonable suspicion *Reasonable time<ref>Thomas Johnson Michie. "Reasonable Time". Garland and McGehee (eds). The American and English Encyclopaedia of Law. Second Edition. Edward Thompson Company. 1903. Volume 23. Pages [https://archive.org/details/cu31924061132621/page/971/mode/1up Page 971].</ref><ref name=WoodRenton1908p378/> *Reasonable use<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Reasonable wear and tear excepted<ref name=Michie1903Reasonable/> *Subjective and objective standard of reasonableness {{div col end}}
=== Constitutional and administrative law === In constitutional and administrative law, reasonableness is a lens through which courts examine the constitutionality or lawfulness of legislation and regulation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=5.3 Reasonableness |url=https://www.icj.org/chapter-5-standards-and-techniques-of-review-in-domestic-adjudication-of-esc-rights-2/5-3-reasonableness/ |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=International Commission of Jurists |date=21 December 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zaring |first=David |date=2011 |title=Rule by Reasonableness |url=https://www.administrativelawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Rule-by-Reasonableness.pdf |journal=Administrative Law Review |volume=63 |pages=525}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Garrett |first=Brandon L. |date=2017 |title=Constitutional Reasonableness |url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6531&context=faculty_scholarship |journal=Minnesota Law Review |volume=102 |pages=61}}</ref> According to Paul Craig, it is "concerned with review of the weight and balance accorded by the primary decision-maker to factors that have been or can be deemed relevant in pursuit of a prima facie allowable purpose".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Craig |first=Paul |date=2013-01-01 |title=The Nature of Reasonableness Review |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2298612_code468680.pdf?abstractid=2298612&mirid=1 |journal=Current Legal Problems |language=en |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=131–167 |doi=10.1093/clp/cut010 |issn=0070-1998|url-access= }}</ref>
==== Common law ==== Examples of reasonableness standards in common law jurisdictions include:
* Reasonableness ''simpliciter'' and patent unreasonableness (repealed in 2008) in Canadian law<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Knight |first=Cjs |date=2008 |title=Reasonableness Transformed (in Canada) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10854681.2008.11426572 |journal=Judicial Review |language=en |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=214–218 |doi=10.1080/10854681.2008.11426572 |s2cid=158748576 |issn=1085-4681|url-access=subscription }}</ref> * Wednesbury unreasonableness in English law * Wednesbury unreasonableness in Singaporean law
==== Mixed jurisdictions ==== * Reasonableness cause in Israeli law (עילת הסבירות) * Reasonableness in South African administrative law
===Reasonability=== {{Expand Hebrew|topic=gov|עילת הסבירות|section=yes|date=August 2023}} {{refimprove section|date=August 2023}}
'''Reasonability''' is a legal term. The scale of reasonability represents a quintessential element of modern judicial systems and is particularly important in the context of international disputes and conflicts of laws issues. The concept is founded on the notion that all parties should be held to a reasonable standard of conduct{{fact|date=August 2023}} and has become embedded in a number of international conventions such as the UNIDROIT principles<ref>Teramura. [https://books.google.com/books?id=PJrnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT155 "Demonstrating reasonableness"]. Ex Aequo et Bono as a Response to the ‘Over-Judicialisation’ of International Commercial Arbitration. 2020.</ref> and the CISG.<ref>Article 8 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods</ref>
The concept of reasonability is applicable to Roman law.<ref>Frier, "Case 98: Reasonability", ''A Casebook on the Roman Law of Contracts'', OUP, 2021, [https://books.google.com/books?id=huEsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA223 p 223]. María José Falcón y Tella, ''Case Law in Roman, Anglosaxon and Continental Law'', 2011, pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=i_N5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA138 138] to 140.</ref>
== See also == *Reason *Reasonable person model
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading ==
=== Books ===
* {{Cite book |last1=Bongiovanni |first1=Giorgio |title=Reasonableness and law |last2=Sartor |first2=Giovanni |last3=Valentini |first3=Chiara |date=2009 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-8500-0 |series=Law and philosophy library |location=Dordrecht New York}} * {{Cite book |last=Hevia |first=Martín |title=Reasonableness and responsibility: a theory of contract law |date=2013 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-94-007-4604-6 |series=Law and philosophy library |location=Dordrecht}} * {{Cite book |last=Vadi |first=Valentina |title=Proportionality, reasonableness and standards of review in international investment law and arbitration |date=2018 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-78536-858-5 |series=Elgar international investment law |location=Cheltenham, UK Northampton, MA, USA}} * {{Cite book |title=Reasonableness and interpretation |date=2003 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-8258-6638-9 |editor-last=Volpi |editor-first=Franco |edition= |series=Ars interpretandi |location=Münster}} * {{Cite book |title=Reasonableness in Liberal Political Philosophy |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2014 |isbn=9781317983750 |editor-last=Young |editor-first=Shaun}} * {{Cite thesis |last=Dindjer |first=Hasan |title=A theory of reasonableness in administrative law |date=2020 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=University of Oxford |url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.833318}}
=== Articles === * {{Cite journal |last=Boettcher |first=James W. |date=2004 |title=What is reasonableness? |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0191453704045756 |journal=Philosophy & Social Criticism |language=en |volume=30 |issue=5–6 |pages=597–621 |doi=10.1177/0191453704045756 |s2cid=146271626 |issn=0191-4537|url-access=subscription }} * {{Cite journal |last=Clancy |first=Thomas K. |date=2004 |title=The Fourth Amendment's Concept of Reasonableness |journal=Utah Law Review |issue=4 |pages=277 |ssrn=1565797}} * {{Cite journal |last=Craig |first=Paul |date=2013 |title=The Nature of Reasonableness Review |journal=Current Legal Problems |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=131–167 |doi=10.1093/clp/cut010|url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2298612_code468680.pdf?abstractid=2298612&mirid=1 }} * {{Cite journal |last=Garrett |first=Brandon L. |date=2017 |title=Constitutional Reasonableness |journal=Minnesota Law Review |volume=102 |issue= |pages=61–126}} * {{Cite journal |last=Mangini |first=Michele |date=2018 |title=Toward a theory of reasonableness |journal=Ratio Juris |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=208–230|doi=10.1111/raju.12205 }} * {{Cite journal |last=Zipursky |first=Benjamin C. |date=2015 |title=Reasonableness in and out of Negligence Law |journal=University of Pennsylvania Law Review |volume=163 |issue=7 |pages=2131–2170}} * {{Cite news |last=Sokol |first=Sam |date=2023-01-19 |title=Israel's 'Reasonableness' Standard Is in the News. But What Is It and Why Do We Need It? |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-01-19/ty-article/.premium/israels-reasonableness-standard-is-in-the-news-but-what-is-it-and-why-do-we-need-it/00000185-ca85-d3a8-a3cf-cfb54d660000 |access-date=2023-07-13}} * Krishnan, Nikhil, "Start Making Sense: Being reasonable as a social virtue" (reviews Krista Lawlor, ''Being Reasonable: The Case for a Misunderstood Virtue'', Harvard), ''The New Yorker'', 27 April 2026, pp. 59–62.
Category:Administrative law Category:Constitutional law Category:Legal doctrines and principles Category:Political philosophy