Title
Mistake of Law Is No Excuse? It Might Be a Justification!
Abstract
According to a famous maxim, ignorance or mistake of law is no excuse. This maxim is supposed to represent both the standard and the proper rule of law. In fact, this maxim needs to be qualified in both respects: some mistakes of law are and (perhaps even more) should be excused. But this qualification only reinforces the more fundamental and ubiquitous assumption that the only ground of exculpation relevant to mistakes of law is excuse due to lack of (sufficient) culpability. The paper challenges this consensus by arguing that mistakes of law, like mistakes in general, could be justified. This conceptual possibility is demonstrated mainly with respect to ignorance or mistake due to reliance on the guidance of public officials or private lawyers.
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