Cultural conflicts and law

Abstract

The paper deals in particular with the question whether institutions (especially the courts) should take into account differences in cultural backgrounds of persons in their legal situations. The author begins his analysis of the issue by clarifying the concepts of culture and cultural conflict, the understanding of which represents the framework of how and why some people act differently from what a particular society (or social majority) expects from them. After presenting of some scholarly works, the study focuses on the analysis of three specific court cases within the American legal system, in which the courts admitted cultural evidence / cultural defense in the courtroom. The study also analyzes the question of admissibility of cultural evidence in German courts in particular with a special focus on the phenomena of so-called honor killings. In the end, this provides the author with the opportunity to consider the approach based on dominance of the majority culture as a possible solution concerning this partial question.