Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Ph.D Student, Public Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Public Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Introduction
Legal system is a legal concept that has been addressed less directly, except in a few cases. Legal order and later on legal system were initially introduced into legal literature by German jurists. In the first half of the 19th century, scholars of public law in Germany pioneered the discussion on the concept of legal order, influenced by the philosophies of their predecessors, namely Kant and Hegel. Similarly, the concept of a legal system, denoting an organic and systematic set of rules, emerged concurrently with the concept of the rule of law in the scholarship on law. The concurrent emergence suggests that the prerequisite for the existence of a legal system is the prior establishment of the rule of law. In all likelihood, the concept of a legal system had held more significance for scholars in private international law, whose aim was to elucidate how the rules of one system could be applied in another. Therefore, recognizing the concept of a legal system seemed to be a precursor to delving into the core discussion of international law. Later on, the concept of a legal system fell into neglect and received scant attention until it regained its importance during the 20th century. However, the revival did not stem from the inherent significance of the legal system itself, but rather from a debate between positivists and anti-positivists regarding the concept of law. Neither Hart nor Fuller—as the great figures of positivism and anti-positivism, respectively—explicitly referred to something as of legal system; however, their formulation and theorization would inevitably end up in the concept of a legal system. In any case, legal system can be viewed as a cohesive set of all elements that significantly contribute to establishing the rights governing the life and functioning of any human society.
In this respect, the present study aimed to investigate the nature of the concept of a legal system by addressing the following questions: Why is the concept of a legal system important to us? What is a legal system? What are its defining characteristics and constitutive components? How are the components intertwined? and What kind of relationship does the legal system impose on its internal environment? It is presupposed that a precise conceptual definition of legal system is essential to understand the relevance between ethics and the legal system. Accurate identification of constituent elements of the legal system, as well as a careful examination of the criteria for the system’s validity, are crucial steps to gain insight into the relationship between ethics and the legal system.
Literature Review
As the legal system consists of a set of laws, understanding the legal system requires a detailed analysis of the nature of law. It is thus crucial to note that any conceptualization of law significantly influences the understanding of the legal system. In the literature on legal studies in Iran, it seems that that there is a dearth of research concerning the conceptual and philosophical definition of legal system. The concept of a legal system and its related notions have not been a focal point for Iranian jurists. Although a few significant translated works deal with the concept of law, there is no independent research specifically dedicated to the concept of a legal system. In the non-Iranian context, the English-language literature includes notable works published in the early 70s, such as The Concept of a Legal System by Raz (1970) and Normative Systems by Alchourron and Bulygin (1971).
The concept of law, as a normative-cum-institutional system, has become a battleground for positivist and non-positivist doctrines. The discussions on the existence, elements, and purpose of the law form an integral part of the analysis of the concept of a legal system, with each jurist and scholar interpreting it based on their theoretical perspective. In general, a legal system is deemed to exist when its laws do exit. Therefore, to understand the legal system requires a keen understanding of the conditions under which the law exists.
Materials and Methods
The present research employed a descriptive, analytical, and conceptual methodology, relying on library research and internet resources to collect the data.
Conclusion
In light of the research findings, it seems that the study of the theory of a legal system is still in its early stages, for neither the nature of associated issues nor its significance has been recognized and understood. The research highlighted that understanding the nature of law requires an understanding of the internal relationships among laws, emphasizing that every law is necessarily linked to a legal system. In summary, it appears that the analytical theory of a legal system suffers from two shortcomings. First, it neglects the problematic issue of content, thus offering an inadequate explanation of the legal system’s dynamics. Therefore, such a theory needs to be complemented by ethical considerations. Second, this doctrine falls short in giving adequate attention to all constituent elements of the legal system.
Keywords
Main Subjects
- Raz, Joseph, The Concept of Legal System, Translated by Aliakbar Siaposh, First Edition (Tehran: Shahre Danesh Publication, 2015).
- Kelsen, Hans, Pure Theory of Law, Translated by Esmaeil Nemattollahi, Second Edition (Tehran: Samt Publication, 2012).
- Kelsen, Hans, Pure Theory of Law and State, Translated by Mohammadhosein Tamadon Jahromi, First Edition (Tehran: Samt Publication, 2016).
- Hart, Herbert, The Concept of Law, Translated by Mohammad Rasekh, Second Edition (Tehran: Ney Publication, 2016).
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