LAWS 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Interdisciplinarity, Sociology Of Law, Harm Principle
5 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
LAWS1000
10
Connecting law and society
Lecture 5
REVIEW
• Liberalism: basic tenets:
o theor of persohood that assues a ratioal, free-choosing autonomous self that
is idepedet fro the ouit ad other seles
o society should be governed by liberty, equality and neutrality: the State and the law
should strive to provide each citizen with maximum freedom in which to determine
& pursue their o oeptio of the good life
• Within Liberalism, primary tasks of law include:
o Facilitate mechanisms for social interaction & mediate/regulate those interactions
o Deterie he oe persos iteratios hae had a egatie effet o aother
and prohibit those negative interactions (Harm principle)
• Liberal Legalism evident in law in
o Adherence to precedent
o Separation of judicial and legislative functions of government
o Adherence to procedural formalities
• Three cases illustrate disconnect between legal and factual equality
o Christie v. York Corp. [1940] S.C.R. 139
o Delagamuukw v. B.C. [1997] 3 S.C.R. 1010
o Nixon v. Rape Relief B.C. (June 2007) 23 W.R.L.S.I. 27
CONNECTING LAW AND SOCIETY
• The limitations of Traditional Legal Education:
o Dotrial Approah to stud of la
o No real connection between law and society
• Legal Positivism
o The idea ehid positiis as a legal philosoph is that legal sstes are posited,
that is, the are reated hua ats ad iposed o people, ad hae o atural
or etaphsial eistee
o The law exists independent of its impacts or questions of morality
o Bentham & Austin: Law as sovereign command encouraged by threats and backed
by sanctions
H.L.A. HART
• Law as rules
• Legitimate social rules are accompanied by a basic, if implicit sense that they set a
geeral stadard for all ho pla the gae
• All rules have two elements
1. External element
2. Internal element
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