The role of arguments from reasonableness in the justification of judicial decisions

In this contribution I develop an argumentation model that can be used for the analysis and evaluation of arguments from reasonableness in a legal context. First, I discuss the legal background of the use of arguments from reasonableness and fairness. I explain the rationale for the use of arguments of reasonableness, I explain the similarities and differences with other forms of legal argumentation and I establish under what conditions arguments from reasonableness form an acceptable justification of a judicial decision. Then I develop an argumentation model for the analysis and evaluation of legal arguments from reasonableness and I describe how the requirements of the argumentation model are specified further in Dutch law. Finally I give an exemplary demonstration of how the argumentation model can be used to analyse and evaluate two examples from Dutch law in which this form of argumentation is used.