THE JUDGEMENT OF SOLOMON: JUSTICE, COMPASSION, AND THE INTEREST OF CHILDREN Cover Image

LE JUGEMENT DE SALOMON: LA JUSTICE, LA COMPASSION ET L’INTÉRÊT DE L’ENFANT
THE JUDGEMENT OF SOLOMON: JUSTICE, COMPASSION, AND THE INTEREST OF CHILDREN

Author(s): Bjarne Melkevik
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence
Published by: Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai
Keywords: Philosophy of law; General Jurisprudence; Law and literature; Biblical narrative and law; Procedural Law; Best Interest of the Child Standard

Summary/Abstract: The Judgement of Solomon: Justice, Compassion, and the Interest of Children. This essay examines the biblical story of the judgement of Solomon. It gives, first, a survey of the controversy about the historical and biblical Solomon, before giving the two official versions (one rabbinic, another biblical) of the judgement. Second, the article analyses the first part of the judgement centred on the “splitting the baby” or the “cutting the baby in half”. Third, it examines the second and final part of the judgement, focused on the King’s declaration that the first mother is the true mother because she is the loving mother of the disputed child. In a fourth section, the article understands the judgement through the contemporary judicial standards of “fair play” and “due process”.

  • Issue Year: 60/2015
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 21-44
  • Page Count: 24
  • Language: French
Toggle Accessibility Mode