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<title>Rule of avoidance</title>
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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Rule of avoidance</span></span>
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<p>The <b>rule of avoidance</b> was a rule employed typically in states with <a href="Centralized" class="mw-redirect" title="Centralized">centralized</a> government system which prohibited local officials from serving in their places of origin, so that family and friends would not influence them and prevent local <a href="Separatism" title="Separatism">separatism</a>.
</p><p>The system was originated in <a href="Han_dynasty" title="Han dynasty">Han dynasty</a> of China and has persisted into modern times. A system similar to this was adopted by Emperor <a href="Akbar" title="Akbar">Akbar</a> of the <a href="Mughal_Empire" title="Mughal Empire">Mughal Empire</a> to prevent corruption and favoritism. It is also an entirely different principle in <a href="United_States" title="United States">United States</a> constitutional law, and a cultural norm in some cultures that promotes <a href="Exogamy" title="Exogamy">exogamy</a>.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="China">China</h2></div>
<p>The rule of avoidance employed during the <a href="Han_dynasty" title="Han dynasty">Han dynasty</a>, and persisted through various subsequent dynasties and continues to influence the appointment of local government leaders in the <a href="People%E2%80%99s_Republic_of_China" class="mw-redirect" title="People’s Republic of China">People’s Republic of China</a> and the <a href="Chinese_Communist_Party" title="Chinese Communist Party">Chinese Communist Party</a>, prohibited local officials from serving in their places of origin, so that family and friends would not influence them and prevent the potential <a href="Separatism" title="Separatism">separatism</a> movement.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Terms of service were for only three or four years, and parents and sons over fifteen could not accompany officials. Each prefecture sent delegates to an annual court assembly. This practice would continue through to the end of the Qing dynasty.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Mughal_Empire">Mughal Empire</h2></div>
<p>In the time of <a href="Emperor_Akbar" class="mw-redirect" title="Emperor Akbar">Emperor Akbar</a> of the <a href="Mughal_Empire" title="Mughal Empire">Mughal Empire</a> (in the area of what is now <a href="India" title="India">India</a>, <a href="Pakistan" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a> and <a href="Afghanistan" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a>), a system similar to this was put into place to ensure smooth running of government and to prevent corruption. Government officials were not allowed to serve in one jurisdiction for long so that they did not become too involved in local affairs and become stronger than the Emperor himself. After a period of time, employees of the Emperor were transferred and jurisdiction of service was thus rotated regularly. The implementation of this system in the Empire by Akbar helped in preventing corruption and favoritism. This method was discarded and forgotten by the later Emperors.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="United_States_law">United States law</h2></div>
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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Ashwander_rules" class="mw-redirect" title="Ashwander rules">Ashwander rules</a></div>
<p>The rule of avoidance employed by the <a href="United_States_Supreme_Court" class="mw-redirect" title="United States Supreme Court">United States Supreme Court</a> is a principle called <b>Ashwander rules</b>, settled in <i>Ashwander v. TVA</i> (297 US 288, 346-347 (1936)), that where a controversy may be settled on a platform other than one involving constitutional adjudication, the court should avoid the constitutional question. It was articulated by <a href="Louis_Brandeis" title="Louis Brandeis">Justice Louis D. Brandeis</a>, are a set of principles used by the <a href="United_States" title="United States">United States</a> <a href="Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Supreme Court of the United States">Supreme Court</a> for avoiding constitutional rulings.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Irish_law">Irish law</h2></div>
<p>This principle is also used in Irish law: see <a href="European_Convention_on_Human_Rights_Act_2003#Important_Case_Law" title="European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003">Carmody v Minister for Justice</a>.<a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.bailii.org/ie/cases/IEHC/2005/H10.html">[1]</a>
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