Massimo La
Torre, Catanzaro/Hull: The Hierarchical Model and H. L. A. HartŐs Concept of
Law
Abstract: Law seems to be irremediadibly connected
to the experience of coercion and to a structure of hierarchy. This is so
because it has traditionally been defined as a set of authoritative
prescriptions, usually commands backed by the menace of a sanction, an evil
eventually applied through the use of overwhelming violence. Law has also been
related to some kind of structure or system which is intrinsically hierarchical,
both in the sense of the hierarchy of people whose conduct is addressed by the
law and in the sense of the logical interdependence of the legal prescriptions
themselves. The British legal philosopher H. L. A. Hart criticizes in his
celabrated book The Concept of Law powerfully the command theory and also reshapes the
theory of the hierarchical structure of rules. The paper will tries to follow
HartŐs attack to the traditional imperativistic view and will then focus on his
treatment of international law. The aim is to show on the one side how
promising HartŐs approach could be, and on the other side how poor however his
conceptualization of international law at the end of the day reveals to be.
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