Positive law and the Kelsenian project

Langford, P and Bryan, Ian Hugh-John and McGarry, J (2017) Positive law and the Kelsenian project. In: Kelsenian legal science and the nature of law :. Law and Philosophy Library . Springer International Publishing, pp. 303-320. ISBN 9783319518176

Abstract

This contribution considers the Kelsenian project of a legal science of positive law against the backdrop of a striking shift in orientation away from a distinctively Kelsenian theoretical and methodological framework for the comprehension of positive law. The authors examine and problematize contemporary formulations of legal positivism which have a tendency to simplify, downplay, disengage from or renounce an unambiguously Kelsenian conceptualisation of law as a normative order. In so doing, the authors clear the ground for a critical reconstruction and assessment of the continued relevance of Kelsenian legal science for contemporary legal theories positive law.