Legal Definitions - caprice

Caprice

Caprice refers to a decision, action, or judgment that is based on personal whim, impulse, or an unreasoned preference, rather than on objective facts, logical reasoning, or established principles. It implies a lack of consistent, rational, or justifiable basis for a choice.

Examples:

• Imagine a city council that has a clear set of criteria for approving new building permits, including zoning compliance, environmental impact assessments, and public safety standards. After a developer meticulously meets all these requirements, the council suddenly denies the permit, not due to any failure to meet the criteria or new information, but because one influential council member simply "had a bad feeling" about the project's aesthetics.

  This illustrates caprice because the council's decision is based on an arbitrary, unfounded personal feeling rather than the established, objective standards and evidence presented.

• Consider a judge who, during a complex civil trial, unexpectedly reverses a previous procedural ruling without any new legal arguments or changed circumstances, simply stating, "I've changed my mind." This sudden shift disrupts the trial's flow and creates uncertainty for both legal teams, as there's no articulated legal basis for the alteration.

  This demonstrates caprice because the judge's change of mind is impulsive and lacks a consistent, rational, or justifiable foundation, showing a disposition to change decisions without proper legal reasoning.

• A university admissions committee has a rubric for evaluating scholarship applications, focusing on academic merit, leadership experience, and community service. After reviewing all applications according to this rubric, the committee awards a prestigious scholarship to a candidate who scored lower on all objective measures, purely because one committee member felt a personal, unexplainable affinity for that applicant's essay, despite it not meeting the established criteria as well as others.

  This exemplifies caprice as the decision to award the scholarship is driven by an arbitrary, unfounded personal preference rather than the objective, pre-defined standards designed to ensure fairness and consistency.