On Wednesday, 14 October, 4-6pm UK time, Surrey Centre for Law and Philosophy will host an SCLP seminar with Professor Kenneth Einar Himma (Continuing Guest Professor at Zagreb University’s Faculty of Law), who will present his paper ‘The Epistemic Infeasibility of Immodest Conceptual Analysis’.
Kenneth’s paper is available here for strongly encouraged pre-reading.
You can join the seminar online via Teams.
Robert Alexy, one of the most influential jurists in the world, dies at the age of 80.
The world legal scene lost one of its greatest exponents with the death of the legal philosopher Robert Alexy at the age of 80. Professor at Kiel University in Germany, Alexy established himself as one of the most influential figures in contemporary legal thought, being widely recognized for his contributions to the fields of Theory of Principles and Theory of Legal Argumentation.
Graduated in Law and Philosophy from the University of Göttingen, Alexy was a disciple of Ralf Dreier. His academic career reached its peak with the publication of works that became pillars of modern Constitutional Law. In 1976, he completed his doctoral dissertation entitled A Theory of Legal Argumentation, a work that established new standards for the logic and reasoning of judicial decisions.
Later, in 1984, he obtained his qualification from the “Theory of Fundamental Rights”, a work that introduced the analytical distinction between rules and principles, in addition to consolidating the application of the principle of proportionality. Throughout his career, he received several honors, including the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2010.
Robert Alexy’s relationship with Brazil was close. In 2016, the jurist was in São Paulo to participate in an event promoted by the Association of Labor Justice Magistrates of the 2nd Region (Amatra-2), in the Fórum Trabalhista da Barra Funda. At the time, he detailed the functioning of his theory, reinforcing how weighting should be applied to resolve conflicts between fundamental rights.
The Supreme Court (STF) expressed official mourning over the jurist’s passing. In a note, the Court pointed out that Alexy’s research revolutionized the understanding of Constitutional Law by providing a universal vocabulary for the resolution of normative conflicts. The Court also pointed out that the formula of proportionality developed by the teacher continues to guide the Brazilian jurisprudence and that of several other international constitutional courts.
The death of the jurist occurred this last Saturday (5/9).
L. Burazin (Legal Theory Department, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb) published Methodology of (Continental European) Legal Science. Research Objectives, Questions, and Methods in Isonomia – La revista de teoría y filosofía del derecho, 64 (2026), pp. 1 – 35.
Objavljen je rad L. Burazin, S. Relac, Pogrešna primjena materijalnog prava. Teorijskopravna tipologija, Zbornik radova Pravnog fakulteta u Splitu, god. 62, 4/2025, str. 545-583. Rad se može preuzeti s: https://hrcak.srce.hr/347627
Na temelju sinteze prethodno rekonstruiranih doktrinarnih tipologija i klasifikacije utvrđenih grešaka, u radu se konstruira opća teorijskopravna tipologija grešaka u primjeni materijalnog prava koja je primjenljiva na različite pravne postupke. Greške u primjeni materijalnog prava dijele se na greške u utvrđivanju norme, rodnom i pojedinačnom podvođenju utvrđenog činjeničnog stanja pod doseg primjene utvrđene norme i određivanju pravne posljedice. Za svaku od tih grešaka utvrđuju se specifični razlozi koji do njih dovode.
Tipologija bi trebala pomoći hrvatskim pravnim znanstvenicima u boljem opisivanju i usustavljivanju pravnog uređenja žalbenog razloga pogrešne primjene materijalnog prava i provođenju preciznijih analiza slučajeva pogrešne primjene materijalnog prava u hrvatskoj sudskoj i upravnoj praksi te hrvatskim pravnim praktičarima u jasnijem prepoznavanju različitih slučajeva pogrešne primjene materijalnog prava u postupcima (sudske i upravne) primjene prava.
The 3rd edition of the Handbook for Legal Theory (authors: L. Burazin, M. Krešić, I. Tucak) has been published by Naklada Breza.
The Handbook presents basic concepts suitable for describing and analyzing law using examples from Croatian legislation and case law. It illustrates, through concrete examples, various types of legal norms, subjective rights, constitutional court techniques (such as constitutional overinterpretation, conforming statutory interpretation, and balancing of principles), normative hierarchies, methods for resolving antinomies (lex posterior, lex superior, lex specialis), interpretation techniques, legal arguments (such as the ordinary meaning of words, legislative intent, a contrario, analogy, dissociation), legal construction techniques, and schemas for analyzing judicial reasoning.
The Handbook relies on analytical tools from R. Guastini’s book The Syntax of Law, Naklada Breza, 2025 (5th ed.).
The Handbook can be purchased via the publisher’s website (https://naklada-breza.hr/pravo/prirucnik-za-teoriju-prava-3-izdanje/).
The 3rd legal theory student conference organized by the Croatian IVR section will be held in Zagreb on 9 May 2025, 8:50 am – 5:45 pm, Trg Republike Hrvatske 3, room 3. Online attendance is possible at: https://meet.google.com/xdv-fkru-wsx
For more information please see the conference programme.
K. E. Himma (Legal Theory Department, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb) published The Practical Otiosity of Exclusionary Reasons in the Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence 37(2) 2024, pp. 457 – 473
One of Joseph Raz’s most influential contributions to legal philosophy is the Exclusionary Thesis, according to which any prescription that counts as mandatory is identical with an exclusionary reason that bars acting on certain reasons favoring noncompliance. This essay argues that exclusionary reasons are otiose in the sense there is no deliberative work they are ever needed to do under objective norms of practical reasoning.
The book is based on presentations and discussions at the special workshop “The Concept of Legal Consciousness” held in Bucharest, Romania, on 7 July 2022, as part of the 30th Biennial World Congress of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR). The workshop focused on the importance of this concept for legal theory, legal sociology and legal psychology (“psychology and law”). The book consists of fourteen contributions, divided into four thematic parts, dealing with the following topics: the concept of law, the methodology of legal science, the role of legal consciousness in legal theory and legal sociology, adjudication, constitutionalisation, modification of the legal system and deliberate normative change.
Obavijest o natječaju objavljena je na: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/oglasi/o8389173.html
Objavljen je članak L. Burazin, M. Keršić, Kritička analiza Guastinijeva shvaćanja sukoba između ustavnih prava i tehnike odvagivanja, Zbornik Pravnog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Rijeci, vol. 45, br. 3, 491-517 (2024). Članak je dostupan na: https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php/en/clanak/467729