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University of the Philippines Diliman | College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
  • Author: Enrique Benjamin R. Fernando III, MA
  • Year: 2021
  • Type: Peer-Reviewed Journal Article

Citation: Fernando, Enrique Benjamin III R. “Law as Collaboration.” Perspectives: UCD Postgraduate Journal of Philosophy. Vol. 9. (Winter 2021). pp. 250-277.

Abstract:

This article shall provide a critical exposition of two opposing views of law in the context of adjudication. The One-Way View holds that law is a one-way projection of authority by official unto citizen and emphasizes three “family resemblances” that tend to be shared by theories that espouse it: the formal character of its legal rules, its institutionality, and the conceptual significance of coercion. This article will offer three arguments against this view, which may be referred to as the Arguments from the Natures of Law, Language, and the Judicial Role.

The Two-Way View, on the other hand, holds that law is a collaboration. Law, far from being an autonomous and self- contained system, does not arise in a vacuum, unrelated to the society to which it owes its existence. Rather, law is a collective endeavor, the product of a collaborative effort between official and citizen that inevitably reflects the principles, conventions, and goals of the community. This article will argue that the Two- Way View not only better captures how judges actually decide cases, but that there are good reasons for even the citizen’s view of what is binding to be factored into adjudication and treated as law as well. It shall also be argued that because the collection of institutional materials cannot contain all that is relevant to the resolution of a case, the non-institutional and non-legal materials that contain information about beliefs, ideals, and other standards that aid in their interpretation inevitably come to form part of the law’s content.

Keywords

Law, Morality, Adjudication, Collaboration, Authority

Link:

https://www.academia.edu/81557847/Law_as_Collaboration