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⚖️ Fixed penalties 💻 Same result always ✅ Clear and definite
determinacy

determinacy

8.4
A system where prison sentences are fixed rather than open-ended
  • noun
  • /dɪˈtɜːrmɪnəsi/
  • Formal
translation icon : determinación

Examples

  • Still, it is law nonetheless and therefore offers a source of legal determinacy that does not depend on the implausible assumption that statutory texts alone produce determinate meaning.

    Academic text (2017)

  • With the rise of postmodernism, the objectivity of the scientific methods of the previous centuries has been challenged and critiqued, with textual determinacy falling to indeterminacy.

    Academic text (2006)

  • It follows from the result of Martin 25 that games with costs are strictly determinate. (The strict determinacy for F sigma is proved by Wolfe 24, using weaker set theoretical assumptions than needed for the more general result of Martin 25.)

    Academic text (1994)

  • The new sentencing guidelines aimed to improve legal determinacy by ensuring that penalties for similar crimes were consistent.

  • Judges are encouraged to apply determinacy in their rulings to offer clearer outcomes for defendants and victims alike.

  • The reform of the legal system emphasized determinacy in sentencing, eliminating indefinite prison terms.

Antonyms

indeterminacy
2 8.9

An unclear or uncertain situation that makes meaning hard to know

How Determinate

finality
20 6.2
fixedness
7.8
determinacy
  • Formal
8.4
flexibility
37 3.0

Surface Forms

determinacy singular
determinacies plural

Morphology

determinacy = determine (transparent) = determine + acy

The noun 'determinacy' is transparently derived from the verb 'determine' with the suffix '-acy' indicating a state or quality.

Etymology

Determinacy comes from the same root as determine and term, which once meant 'end' or 'limit'. So in law, determinacy means giving a sentence a clear, fixed limit.