When he announced, on August 20th, that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was to be released on compassionate grounds, later defending that decision in the face of international outrage, Mr MacAskill referred to Scotland's alleged fondness for mercy, and to the "higher" judgment that the terminally ill Libyan faces.
This response seems problematic, however, for we now have at least one sort of belief or judgment, the higher-order judgment of fit itself, that is noninferentially justified without there being any awareness or recognition that its propositional content fits the facts.
Manuela Groll, a lawyer in Berlin representing 15 students who say they were abused at Jesuit high schools in Germany, said that the highest civil judgment for a case of severe sexual abuse of a minor that she could find was less than $70,000 and a small monthly stipend.
Bernadette Smyth, who heads the anti-abortion group Precious Life, branded the high court judgment "undemocratic".
This story was amended on 15 May 2014 to clarify details of the high court judgment.
The high court judgment was a victory but much remains to be done.
He confirmed, however, that Sisu have appealed against the high court judgment.
Though it was not dealt with explicitly in the high court judgment, it is not a new issue.
Hale also lamented the negative press coverage of the high court judgment, which saw the judges who ruled on the case referred to as "enemies of the people".
The high court judgment declared: "It is because of the unusual combination of facts that the present case, in our view, justifies departure from the normal policy.
