[Idyllchat] Currency Conversion Lawsuit against credit cardcompanies

[Walt Slazyk]

N.B. Not travel related.
 
>From my understanding of the situation, the differences Vance notes
are the differences between the legal heritages of the two countries.
Most European countries have an administrative legal background
where laws are cast by the government and their enforcement
and adjudication takes place within defined limits.   In Britain and 
subsequently the U.S. we operate with a common law heritage. 
We allow the common interpretation of the law to determine how
the law is put into effect.  
 
Magistrates in an administrative legal system learn the specific
administrative rules of law and apply them when hearing a case.
Judges in a common law system are required to take into consideration
the outcome of other cases and the "common" sentiment as well as
the letter of the law when they make their individual judgements.
In the US we elect judges or the people who appoint judges and   
that is how we the people have a say in the interpretation of the law.
This is how our system adapts to a changing world. 
 
It's also why we have such an adversarial system.  Each side hopes
to persuade the judge toward their viewpoint.  An administrative
judge enforces the set and known rules rather than making his/her
own judgement and thus a persuasive argument has limited impact.
 
I am not an attorney so if any attorney, lawyer, solicitor, barrister,
or law clerk can add to this or correct me, please do.
 
Walt Slazyk
wslazyk at luc.edu

>>> Vance Roy <gigli.saw at dplanet.ch> 12/9/2007 6:46 am >>>
>From my perspective here in CH, I see a world of difference between  
USA Lawyers and those here. The adversarial nature of legal  
proceedings is less pronounced here. A good example to me is divorce.  
Divorce rates here are as those in the USA. The "who gets the dog"  
mentality is not tolerated by the courts. There are well defined  
rules that both parties must go by, and the issue of "fault" is not  
addressed. One does not see ads for legal services in any medium.  
Lawyers are very low profile and for the most part do things other  
than trial law. There are laws that cover most torts, and the courts  
rarely change them. This novelty may be one reason why USA lawyer TV  
shows are so popular here.

I agree that currency exchange within the average tourist's range is  
like one driving 20 miles to save two cents a gallon for gasoline.

On 8. Dez 2007, at 15:29, <cstaehr at verizon.net> <cstaehr at verizon.net>  
wrote:

> Unless foreign charges were huge, isn't this kind of a ridiculous  
> discussion? Get outside and enjoy the Christmas season! And I don't  
> agree that "Europeans know better how to deal with lawyers."  They  
> have the same love/hate relationship with them as the rest of the  
> world, depending upon which side of the fence you are on.
>

Vance Roy
gigli.saw at dplanet.ch
http://homepage.mac.com/fredch
http://www.eyefetch.com/fredch/blog.aspx

Forgiveness is abandoning all hope for a better past.
Liley Tomlin


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