The Paradox of Adjudication

18 Pages Posted: 6 Jun 2014

See all articles by F. E. Guerra-Pujol

F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico; University of Central Florida

Date Written: June 5, 2014

Abstract

Building on the work of Oren Perez (2006), this work is the first full-length paper to explore the problem of infinite regress in the process of adjudication (i.e. the problem of deciding to decide) and is organized as follows. Part 1 describes the logical structure of the infinite regress problem in decision-making generally. Next, parts 2 and 3 explore the problem of infinite regress in legal decision-making, explaining why the regress problem arises in all forms of adjudication requiring research and deliberation (part 2) and providing an illustration of the regress problem from the law of torts (part 3). Part 4 then explores some possible solutions to the regress problem in law. Part 5 concludes.

Keywords: adjudication, costly decision-making, infinite regress, research, deliberation, time constraints, Hand formula

JEL Classification: C61, D01, D89, D99, K40

Suggested Citation

Guerra-Pujol, F. E., The Paradox of Adjudication (June 5, 2014). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2446539 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2446539

F. E. Guerra-Pujol (Contact Author)

Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico ( email )

University of Central Florida ( email )

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