Law is...

"Law (and translations thereof) is whatever social groups conventionally attach the label "law" to."

"Natural necessity owing to human nature and requirements and tendencies within social groups appears to be behind fundamental aspects of law. Scientific evidence presently is thin, so these assertions are speculative. The universality of family units and universal reactions that property of others should not be taken, deceptive exchanges are wrong, and intentional injuries are wrong suggest there is a naturalistic basis for basic rules of social intercourse (although the content of the rules vary accross societies) - the first connotation of law. The apparent necessity for large social groups to use hierarchical organizations to manage cooperation and conflict, which operate more effectively whwn backed by organized coercive force, is behind the second connotation of law. Another apparently universal trait within social groups is a strong sense of justice and fairness (again with much variation), which underlies the third connotation of law."

"All forms of law operate in social space alongside and dependent on other norms, rules, institutions, and modes of ordering - customs, morals, etiquette, habits, practices, institutional structures, language, shared concepts and ideologies. The thick social nromative stew has many ingredients, law one among others, which often exert greater immediate influence than law. Formal legal institutions are influenced by and rely on supportive social beliefs and institutions."

Τα αποσπάσματα είναι από το εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον καινούριο βιβλίο:

Brian Z. Tamanaha, A Realistic Theory of Law, Cambridge University Press, 2017, pp. 194-196.


Οι φωτογραφίες είναι από το Ναύπλιο - Αύγουστος 2017.