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Pseudolaw
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Pseudolaw
Pseudolaw consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that are claimed to be based on accepted law or legal doctrine but have no actual basis in law and are generally rooted in conspiracy theories. Pseudolegal arguments deviate significantly from most conventional understandings of law and jurisprudence and often originate from non-existent statutes or legal principles the advocate or adherent incorrectly believes exist.
Canadian legal scholar Donald J. Netolitzky defined pseudolaw as "a collection of legal-sounding but false rules that purport to be law", a definition that distinguishes pseudolaw from arguments that fail to conform to existing laws such as novel arguments or an ignorance of precedent in case law. He has also compared it to "a form of legal quackery or snake oil". The term Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments (OPCA) was coined in a 2012 Canadian court decision as an umbrella term for pseudolegal tactics and arguments, and has since been used by lawyers and legal scholars in Commonwealth countries.
Pseudolaw often purports to be based on "common law", though its interpretation of it has no relation to contemporary or historical examples of common law. It may be used by people who engage in vexatious or frivolous litigation. The more extreme examples of pseudolegal tactics have been classified as paper terrorism – sheer harassment rather than a genuine attempt to argue one's legal position.
Litigants who use pseudolaw frequently rely on techniques and arguments promoted and sold – sometimes as "kits" – by amateur legal theorists, who are commonly called "gurus" by courts, scholars and media. People offering unorthodox and unlicensed legal services are likely to be charlatans or scammers.
Pseudolaw typically appeals to people seeking a remedy for their financial or legal problems, or against perceived government excesses and intrusions. It has been used to challenge certain laws, taxes and sentences, in attempts to escape debt or avoid foreclosure, as part of financial schemes, and also to deny the jurisdiction of courts or even the legitimacy of governments. It is a common tactic of tax protesters and conspiracy theorists. Journalists and scholars have described pseudolaw as so unorthodox that it more closely resembles magic ceremony or mental illness than any recognizable form of legitimate legal practice. Arguments derived from pseudolaw have never been accepted in court and can be harmful to the people using them. Pseudolitigation may also waste considerable judicial time.
The history of pseudolaw is poorly documented, including by its own adherents. Pseudolaw seems to have existed in the United States since the 1950s, and possibly much earlier. Idiosyncratic legal theories challenging the legitimacy of government or taxes were observed in Canada as early as the 1930s. The development of pseudolaw was fostered in the United States by the farm crisis of the late 20th century: from the 1980s, former North Dakota farmer Roger Elvick advocated fraudulent tax avoidance and anti-government schemes in what became known as the redemption movement. In Canada, local tax protesters imported fiscal misconceptions of US origin during the 1980s and 1990s. The advent of the Internet later facilitated the spreading of pseudolegal ideas and concepts, which matured around 1999–2000 in the United States where they were at that point hosted by the sovereign citizen movement. During the same period, sovereign citizen theories were introduced into Canada, first through the "Detaxer" movement initiated by Eldon Warman, who reframed Elvick's theories and US sovereign citizen ideology to better suit a Commonwealth context. Detaxer ideology was further adapted by the freeman on the land movement, which spread to other Commonwealth countries during the 2000s. Since the late 2000s, the sovereign citizen movement has enjoyed a significant resurgence, due to the Great Recession. Later on, the COVID-19 pandemic increased the movement's spread.
The Internet has facilitated the spread of pseudolegal concepts, but also the rapid splintering of pseudolaw movements into different factions with varied, often conflicting ideologies. While the sovereign citizen movement originated in the American far right and in white supremacist ideologies, the freeman on the land movement tends to attract a left wing population and sovereign citizen concepts are now being used by African Americans and people from other minority groups. In the United States and Canada, pseudolaw has been used by Indigenous groups as well as by those claiming inauthentic indigenous identities, and by other ethnic groupings such as the "Moorish" sovereign citizens.
Outside the United States and Canada, pseudolaw has appeared in various English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa.
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Pseudolaw
Pseudolaw consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that are claimed to be based on accepted law or legal doctrine but have no actual basis in law and are generally rooted in conspiracy theories. Pseudolegal arguments deviate significantly from most conventional understandings of law and jurisprudence and often originate from non-existent statutes or legal principles the advocate or adherent incorrectly believes exist.
Canadian legal scholar Donald J. Netolitzky defined pseudolaw as "a collection of legal-sounding but false rules that purport to be law", a definition that distinguishes pseudolaw from arguments that fail to conform to existing laws such as novel arguments or an ignorance of precedent in case law. He has also compared it to "a form of legal quackery or snake oil". The term Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments (OPCA) was coined in a 2012 Canadian court decision as an umbrella term for pseudolegal tactics and arguments, and has since been used by lawyers and legal scholars in Commonwealth countries.
Pseudolaw often purports to be based on "common law", though its interpretation of it has no relation to contemporary or historical examples of common law. It may be used by people who engage in vexatious or frivolous litigation. The more extreme examples of pseudolegal tactics have been classified as paper terrorism – sheer harassment rather than a genuine attempt to argue one's legal position.
Litigants who use pseudolaw frequently rely on techniques and arguments promoted and sold – sometimes as "kits" – by amateur legal theorists, who are commonly called "gurus" by courts, scholars and media. People offering unorthodox and unlicensed legal services are likely to be charlatans or scammers.
Pseudolaw typically appeals to people seeking a remedy for their financial or legal problems, or against perceived government excesses and intrusions. It has been used to challenge certain laws, taxes and sentences, in attempts to escape debt or avoid foreclosure, as part of financial schemes, and also to deny the jurisdiction of courts or even the legitimacy of governments. It is a common tactic of tax protesters and conspiracy theorists. Journalists and scholars have described pseudolaw as so unorthodox that it more closely resembles magic ceremony or mental illness than any recognizable form of legitimate legal practice. Arguments derived from pseudolaw have never been accepted in court and can be harmful to the people using them. Pseudolitigation may also waste considerable judicial time.
The history of pseudolaw is poorly documented, including by its own adherents. Pseudolaw seems to have existed in the United States since the 1950s, and possibly much earlier. Idiosyncratic legal theories challenging the legitimacy of government or taxes were observed in Canada as early as the 1930s. The development of pseudolaw was fostered in the United States by the farm crisis of the late 20th century: from the 1980s, former North Dakota farmer Roger Elvick advocated fraudulent tax avoidance and anti-government schemes in what became known as the redemption movement. In Canada, local tax protesters imported fiscal misconceptions of US origin during the 1980s and 1990s. The advent of the Internet later facilitated the spreading of pseudolegal ideas and concepts, which matured around 1999–2000 in the United States where they were at that point hosted by the sovereign citizen movement. During the same period, sovereign citizen theories were introduced into Canada, first through the "Detaxer" movement initiated by Eldon Warman, who reframed Elvick's theories and US sovereign citizen ideology to better suit a Commonwealth context. Detaxer ideology was further adapted by the freeman on the land movement, which spread to other Commonwealth countries during the 2000s. Since the late 2000s, the sovereign citizen movement has enjoyed a significant resurgence, due to the Great Recession. Later on, the COVID-19 pandemic increased the movement's spread.
The Internet has facilitated the spread of pseudolegal concepts, but also the rapid splintering of pseudolaw movements into different factions with varied, often conflicting ideologies. While the sovereign citizen movement originated in the American far right and in white supremacist ideologies, the freeman on the land movement tends to attract a left wing population and sovereign citizen concepts are now being used by African Americans and people from other minority groups. In the United States and Canada, pseudolaw has been used by Indigenous groups as well as by those claiming inauthentic indigenous identities, and by other ethnic groupings such as the "Moorish" sovereign citizens.
Outside the United States and Canada, pseudolaw has appeared in various English-speaking countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and South Africa.