Applicability and effectiveness of Legal Norms

NAVARRO, PABLO Y MORESO JOSÉ JUAN

Law and Philosophy

Springer

Lugar: The Netherlands; Año: 1997 vol. 16 p. 201 - 219

0167-5249

We analyse the relationship between applicability and effectiveness of legal norms from a philosophical perspective. In particular, we distinguish between two concepts of applicability. The external applicability of norms refers to institutional duties; a norm N is externally applicable if and only if a judge is legally obliged to apply N to some case c. Internal applicability refers instead to the sphere of validity of legal norms. A norm N is internally applicable to actions regulated by its sphere of validity. We also explore the consequences of a thesis which maintains that applicability restricts the concept of effectiveness, so that only applicable norms can be considered effective. We shall refer to this thesis about the range of significance of effectiveness as TRS. Our analysis illustrates that a proper reconstruction of the concept of applicability is of great importance not only for understanding the concept of effectiveness but also for providing insight into the nature of law.