Jano's Dilemma. A Commentary on Ruling 1221/2014 of the People`s Supreme Court of Cuba

Abstract

The problem of judicial interpretation and the scope of the dictates of the law have and will continue to be one of the most difficult theoretical issues in the so-called science of law. However, the obligatory nature of judicial interpretation and its characteristic as a specific legal norm make it an essential aspect for jurists, scholars and judicial personnel in general. This work outlines these matters in light of a ruling by Cuba’s highest court on an appeal filed with regard to a tax case. Being the Supreme Court, its decisions logically affect the entire judicial system and constitute a pattern or precedent for the interpretation of other cases with similar characteristics. Moreover, the ratio decidendi on which the case in question is based has profound interdisciplinary and polysemous links that create a nexus between the mandate outlined in the Cuban constitution, what is ordered by law and what occurs in practice with respect to such matters. That nexus is described in this work and is part of an analysis of a vigorously emerging issue in the midst of the so-called updating of Cuba’s economic model.