TFL Vsebine / Revija Revus

Pravne omejitve hierarhije norm. Sta oblast, ki jo izvaja neki organ, in hierarhična raven njegovih norm povezana? Na podlagi realističnega nauka o pravnem razlaganju bi lahko trdili ravno nasprotno. Če velja – kot izhaja iz tega nauka –, da je razlagalec tisti, ki pravnemu določilu pripiše njegov pravni pomen, potem imajo državni uradniki, ki uveljavljajo javne politike, večjo moč kot zakonodajalec, ki te politike ubeseduje in sprejema. Avtor tega članka trdi, da bi bil tak sklep vendarle napačen, saj se ponavadi tisti, ki splošna in abstraktna pravna besedila oblikujejo, lahko zanesejo na sredstva, ki omogočajo omejevanje razlagalcev na uveljavljanje njihovih izvornih preferenc. Takšna sredstva omejevanja najdemo tudi v miselni predstavi, da je pravo skup hierarhično urejenih norm. Da bi lahko ugotovili, v katerih primerih je hierarhična raven neke norme resnično povezana z oblastjo njenega avtorja, moramo identificirati omenjena sredstva omejevanja in oceniti njihovo učinkovitost.

Is there a correlation between the power exercised by a legal entity and the rank of its norms? The realist theory of interpretation could be taken to suggest the contrary. If, as such theory demonstrates, the interpreter of a legal statement establishes its meaning, then the government officials that apply public policies should have more power than the legislator who determines these policies. The author of this article, however, argues that such a conclusion would be wrong, for the organs that create abstract and general legal statements can usually rely on resources which enable them to constrain those who interpret and apply them to take their preferences into consideration. The idea that law is a set of hierarchised norms offers such resources. These ought to be identified and their efficiency evaluated if we are to determine in which cases there is indeed a correlation between the rank of a norm and the power exercised by its author.