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Ban (law)
Encyclopedia
A ban is, generally, any decree
that prohibit
s something.
Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some see this as a negative act (equating it to a form of censorship
or discrimination
) and others see it as maintaining the "status quo
". Bans in commerce are referred to as embargo
s.
Historically, Old English (ge)bann is a derivation from the verb bannan "to summon, command, proclaim"
from an earlier Common Germanic *bannan "to command, forbid, banish, curse".
The modern sense "to prohibit" is influenced by the cognate Old Norse
banna "to curse, to prohibit" and also from Old French
ban, ultimately a loan from Old Frankish
, meaning "outlawry, banishment".
The Indo-European etymology of the Germanic term is from a root *bha- meaning "to speak".
Its original meaning was magical
, referring to utterances that carried a power to curse
.
may be and are banned. Germany
, for instance, has a long history behind its modern practice of banning political parties. The Nazi Party was banned in 1923, non-Nazi parties such as the Communist Party were banned in 1933, the Nazi Party was again banned and the Communist Party un-banned after 1945, and the Communist Party was again banned in 1956 then un-banned in 1968.
ban is used to prevent certain categories of people from marrying each other. For much of the 1800s and 1900s there were bans on marriage between people of different races (interracial marriage
) in the United States
. However, the ban on interracial marriage was overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1957 in the landmark civil rights
case Loving vs. Virginia, in which the Court ruled Virginia
's miscegenation
law an unconstitutional violation of the fundamental right to marriage. Historically, child marriage
was common, but is now banned in some countries. There have also been bans enacted on same sex marriage.
ry in the Holy Roman Empire
. At different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor
, by courts like the Vehmgericht
or the Reichskammergericht
, or by the Reichstag
. People under imperial ban lost all their rights and possessions and anyone was allowed to rob, injure or kill them without legal consequences. The imperial ban automatically followed the excommunication
of a person, as well as extending to anyone offering help to a person under the imperial ban.
During the apartheid régime in South Africa
, the National Party
government issued banning orders to individuals seen to be threats to its power—often black politicians or organizations—and acted as suppression orders. Individuals banned by the Suppression of Communism Act
could not communicate with more than one person at any time unless at home (thus removing them from partaking in political activities), travel to areas without government approval, or leave the country.
IP address banning (sometimes called 'blocking
' or 'permabanning') is commonplace in internet culture. The "banhammer", "banstick", or "banbomb" is a metaphorical tool used in popular culture. For instance, a moderator or host is sometimes said to "wield the banhammer" against disruptive individuals.
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
that prohibit
Prohibitionism
Prohibitionism is a legal philosophy and political theory often used in lobbying which holds that citizens will abstain from actions if the actions are typed as unlawful and the prohibitions are enforced by law enforcement...
s something.
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
or discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
) and others see it as maintaining the "status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...
". Bans in commerce are referred to as embargo
Embargo
An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...
s.
Etymology
In current English usage, ban is mostly synonymous with prohibition.Historically, Old English (ge)bann is a derivation from the verb bannan "to summon, command, proclaim"
from an earlier Common Germanic *bannan "to command, forbid, banish, curse".
The modern sense "to prohibit" is influenced by the cognate Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
banna "to curse, to prohibit" and also from Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
ban, ultimately a loan from Old Frankish
Old Frankish
Old Frankish is an extinct West Germanic language, once spoken by the Franks. It is the parent language of the Franconian languages, of which Dutch and Afrikaans are the most known descendants...
, meaning "outlawry, banishment".
The Indo-European etymology of the Germanic term is from a root *bha- meaning "to speak".
Its original meaning was magical
Magical thinking
Magical thinking is causal reasoning that looks for correlation between acts or utterances and certain events. In religion, folk religion, and superstition, the correlation posited is between religious ritual, such as prayer, sacrifice, or the observance of a taboo, and an expected benefit or...
, referring to utterances that carried a power to curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
.
Banned political parties
In many countries, political partiesPolitical party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
may be and are banned. Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, for instance, has a long history behind its modern practice of banning political parties. The Nazi Party was banned in 1923, non-Nazi parties such as the Communist Party were banned in 1933, the Nazi Party was again banned and the Communist Party un-banned after 1945, and the Communist Party was again banned in 1956 then un-banned in 1968.
Banning marriages
A marriageMarriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
ban is used to prevent certain categories of people from marrying each other. For much of the 1800s and 1900s there were bans on marriage between people of different races (interracial marriage
Interracial marriage
Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
) in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. However, the ban on interracial marriage was overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1957 in the landmark civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
case Loving vs. Virginia, in which the Court ruled Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
's miscegenation
Miscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
law an unconstitutional violation of the fundamental right to marriage. Historically, child marriage
Child marriage
Child marriage and child betrothal customs occur in various times and places, whereby children are given in matrimony - before marriageable age as defined by the commentator and often before puberty. Today such customs are fairly widespread in parts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America: in...
was common, but is now banned in some countries. There have also been bans enacted on same sex marriage.
Banned persons
The imperial ban was a form of outlawOutlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
ry in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. At different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
, by courts like the Vehmgericht
League of the Holy Court
The Vehmic courts, Vehmgericht, holy vehme, or just the Vehm, also spelt Feme, are names given to a "proto-vigilante" tribunal system of Westphalia active during the later Middle Ages, based on a fraternal organisation of lay judges called “free judges” . The principal seat of the courts was in...
or the Reichskammergericht
Reichskammergericht
The Reichskammergericht or Imperial Chamber Court was one of two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms...
, or by the Reichstag
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
. People under imperial ban lost all their rights and possessions and anyone was allowed to rob, injure or kill them without legal consequences. The imperial ban automatically followed the excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
of a person, as well as extending to anyone offering help to a person under the imperial ban.
During the apartheid régime in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, the National Party
National Party (South Africa)
The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...
government issued banning orders to individuals seen to be threats to its power—often black politicians or organizations—and acted as suppression orders. Individuals banned by the Suppression of Communism Act
Suppression of Communism Act
The Suppression of Communism Act, No. 44 of 1950 was legislation of the national government in South Africa, passed on June 26 of that year , which formally banned the Communist Party of South Africa and proscribed the ideology of communism, defined by the government as any scheme that aimed "at...
could not communicate with more than one person at any time unless at home (thus removing them from partaking in political activities), travel to areas without government approval, or leave the country.
Banning in games and Internet Forums
In Internet forums and online multiplayer games, the host of the game often has the power to ban players who do not follow the rules, or who make little effort to get along with fellow players. When banned, the user is unable to reconnect to the server. In some cases, especially in games which use account systems, the user may create a new account to attempt to bypass the ban system.IP address banning (sometimes called 'blocking
Block (internet)
On the Internet, a block is a technical measure intended to restrict access to information or resources. Blocks should not be confused with bans, although they are often used to enforce a ban.-Effects of blocks:...
' or 'permabanning') is commonplace in internet culture. The "banhammer", "banstick", or "banbomb" is a metaphorical tool used in popular culture. For instance, a moderator or host is sometimes said to "wield the banhammer" against disruptive individuals.
See also
- CensureCensureA censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a spiritual penalty imposed by a church, and a negative judgment pronounced on a theological proposition.-Politics:...
and ExcommunicationExcommunicationExcommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
, which may result in a ban pursuant to religious lawReligious lawIn some religions, law can be thought of as the ordering principle of reality; knowledge as revealed by a God defining and governing all human affairs. Law, in the religious sense, also includes codes of ethics and morality which are upheld and required by the God... - CheremCheremCherem , is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. It is a form of shunning, and is similar to excommunication in the Catholic Church...
, a ban pursuant to Jewish law - Export restrictionExport restrictionExport restrictions, or a restriction on exportation, are limitations on the quantity of goods exported to a specific country or countries by a government.An export restriction may be imposed:...
- Homo sacerHomo sacerHomo sacer is a figure of Roman law: a person who is banned, may be killed by anybody, but may not be sacrificed in a religious ritual....
and the sovereign state of exceptionState of exceptionState of Exception may mean:* State of exception* State of Exception , a book written by Giorgio Agamben... - List of banned books
- List of banned computer and video games
- List of banned films
- List of websites blocked in the People's Republic of China
- ProhibitionProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
- usually referring to historical and current laws regulating prohibition of alcohol - ShunningShunningShunning can be the act of social rejection, or mental rejection. Social rejection is when a person or group deliberately avoids association with, and habitually keeps away from an individual or group. This can be a formal decision by a group, or a less formal group action which will spread to all...
practiced in the Amish community - Use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport
- Wikipedia:List of banned users on WikipediaWikipediaWikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...