Exploring the Relation between the Indegree Centrality and
Authority Score of a Decision and the Reason for which it was
Cited: A Case Study

J 2021

Exploring the Relation between the Indegree Centrality and Authority Score of a Decision and the Reason for which it was Cited: A Case Study

SMEJKALOVÁ, Terezie a Tereza NOVOTNÁ

Základní údaje

Originální název

Exploring the Relation between the Indegree Centrality and Authority Score of a Decision and the Reason for which it was Cited: A Case Study

Autoři

SMEJKALOVÁ, Terezie a Tereza NOVOTNÁ

Vydání

Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology, 2021, 1802-5943

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Článek v odborném periodiku

Obor

50501 Law

Stát vydavatele

Česká republika

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Odkazy

Open access časopisu

Označené pro přenos do RIV

Ano

Kód RIV

RIV/00216224:14220/21:00122577

Organizační jednotka

Právnická fakulta

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5817/MUJLT2021-2-4

EID Scopus

2-s2.0-85117618967

Klíčová slova anglicky

Judicial Decision; Centrality; Network Analysis; Citation Analysis; Normative Nature of Case Law

Štítky

rivok

Příznaky

Mezinárodní význam, Recenzováno

Změněno: 11. 2. 2022 14:09, Mgr. Petra Georgala

Anotace

V originále

Some of the recent network citation analyses conducted in continental legal settings have suggested that the most cited decisions tend to be related to procedural issues, or issues of a more general nature. Such decisions are by nature capable of being referred to in a more varied situations, therefore scoring high in indegree centrality or authority score. While it may seem intuitive that decisions with the highest indegree centrality or authority score would settle issues of a more general nature, hence making them more widely applicable to various kinds of subsequent cases, we were wondering, whether this trend would be noticeable in less exposed decisions. To this end, we have conducted a case study within the boundaries of the Czech legal system. We have chosen five decisions containing a chosen keyword based on their indegree centrality in a corpus ofCzech apex courts’ decisions. Subsequently, we haveconstructed eleven chains ofdecisions (connected toone another byacitation)leading tothese five decisions, again paying attention totheir indegree. We theorize that the decisions with higher indegree centrality as well as decisions with higher authority score will be cited in situations seeking a case-law argument for either procedural issue, or an issue of amore general nature, or an issue of principle, while the decisions with low indegree centrality or low authority score will be cited for their substantive law merit. This paper seeks to demonstrate how the network analysis in combination with a qualitative approach may serve as a useful method in further exploring this hypothesis. We show that the actual citation environment inCzech legal setting might be more complex than this hypothesis suggests and that this methodological approach may be further useful in exploring the normative nature of judicial decisions in non-precedential legal settings.

Návaznosti

MUNI/A/0952/2019, interní kód MU

Název: Judikatura, nebo precedens: Podobnost citovaných rozhodnutí při citacích judikatury

Investor: Masarykova univerzita, Judikatura, nebo precedens: Podobnost citovaných rozhodnutí při citacích judikatury, DO R. 2020_Kategorie A - Specifický výzkum - Studentské výzkumné projekty

Citovat

SMEJKALOVÁ, Terezie a Tereza NOVOTNÁ. Exploring the Relation between the Indegree Centrality and Authority Score of a Decision and the Reason for which it was Cited: A Case Study. Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology. 2021, roč. 15, č. 2, s. 225-246. ISSN 1802-5943. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.5817/MUJLT2021-2-4.

@article{1797662,
   author = {Smejkalová, Terezie and Novotná, Tereza},
   article_number = {2},
   doi = {https://doi.org/10.5817/MUJLT2021-2-4},
   keywords = {Judicial Decision; Centrality; Network Analysis; Citation Analysis; Normative Nature of Case Law},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {1802-5943},
   journal = {Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology},
   title = {Exploring the Relation between the Indegree Centrality and Authority Score of a Decision and the Reason for which it was Cited: A Case Study},
   url = {https://journals.muni.cz/mujlt/article/view/14002/12352},
   volume = {15},
   year = {2021}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 1797662
AU  - Smejkalová, Terezie - Novotná, Tereza
PY  - 2021
TI  - Exploring the Relation between the Indegree Centrality and Authority Score of a Decision and the Reason for which it was Cited: A Case Study
JF  - Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology
VL  - 15
IS  - 2
SP  - 225-246
EP  - 225-246
SN  - 18025943
KW  - Judicial Decision
KW  - Centrality
KW  - Network Analysis
KW  - Citation Analysis
KW  - Normative Nature of Case Law
UR  - https://journals.muni.cz/mujlt/article/view/14002/12352
N2  - Some of the recent network citation analyses conducted in continental legal settings have suggested that the most cited decisions tend to be related to procedural issues, or issues of a more general nature. Such decisions are by nature capable of being referred to in a more varied situations, therefore scoring high in indegree centrality or authority score. While it may seem intuitive that decisions with the highest indegree centrality or authority score would settle issues of a more general nature, hence making them more widely applicable to various kinds of subsequent cases, we were wondering, whether this trend would be noticeable in less exposed decisions. To this end, we have conducted a case study within the boundaries of the Czech legal system. We have chosen five decisions containing a chosen keyword based on their indegree centrality in a corpus ofCzech apex courts’ decisions. Subsequently, we haveconstructed eleven chains ofdecisions (connected toone another byacitation)leading tothese five decisions, again paying attention totheir indegree. We theorize that the decisions with higher indegree centrality as well as decisions with higher authority score will be cited in situations seeking a case-law argument for either procedural issue, or an issue of amore general nature, or an issue of principle, while the decisions with low indegree centrality or low authority score will be cited for their substantive law merit. This paper seeks to demonstrate how the network analysis in combination with a qualitative approach may serve as a useful method in further exploring this hypothesis. We show that the actual citation environment inCzech legal setting might be more complex than this hypothesis suggests and that this methodological approach may be further useful in exploring the normative nature of judicial decisions in non-precedential legal settings.
ER  -

SMEJKALOVÁ, Terezie a Tereza NOVOTNÁ. Exploring the Relation between the Indegree Centrality and Authority Score of a Decision and the Reason for which it was Cited: A Case Study. \textit{Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology}. 2021, roč.~15, č.~2, s.~225-246. ISSN~1802-5943. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.5817/MUJLT2021-2-4.

Přehled o publikaci