Rule of recognition

A central part of H.L.A. Hart's theory on legal positivism, in any legal system, the rule of recognition is a master meta-rule underlying any legal system that defines the common identifying test for legal validity (or "what counts as law") within that system. According to Hart:

...to say that a given rule is valid is to recognize it as passing all the tests provided by the rule of recognition and so as a rule of the system. We can simply say that the statement that a particular rule is valid means that it satisfies all the criteria provided by the rule of recognition.[1]

In Hart's view, the rule of recognition arises out of a convention among officials by which they accept the rule's criteria as standards that impose duties and confer powers on officials, and resolves doubts and disagreements within the community.[2] The rule is cognizable from the social practices of officials acknowledging the rule as a legitimate standard of behavior, exerting social pressure on one another to conform to it, and generally satisfying the rule's requirements. To this end, as explained by Hart, the rule has three functions:

  • To establish a test for valid law in the applicable legal system
  • To confer validity to everything else in the applicable legal system
  • To unify the laws in the applicable legal system[3]

The validity of a legal system is independent from its efficacy. A completely ineffective rule may be a valid one - as long as it emanates from the rule of recognition. But to be a valid rule, the legal system of which the rule is a component must, as a whole, be effective. According to Hart, any rule that complies with the rule of recognition is a valid legal rule. For example, if the rule of recognition were "what Professor X says is law", then any rule that Professor X spoke would be a valid legal rule.

It follows that the rule of recognition is but a factual acknowledgement of what is indeed law; as per the classic illustration of a bill passed by the legislative authority and assented to by a head-of-state. The fact that the bill has been made law in accordance with proper parliamentary procedure shall, in accordance with the Rule of Recognition, render it valid law. Again, this is primarily based on the fact of its existence in such manner. The judgment in R (Factortame Ltd) v Secretary of State for Transport (decided March 1989 to November 2000) represents an alteration of the Rule of Recognition, by confirming the incompatibility of UK legislation (the Merchant Shipping Act) with EU law, and deciding that the provisions of such law were to be disapplied by the UK courts if they contravened EU law. Sir William Wade, a renowned authority in British constitutional law, would confirm this view. Following Brexit, however, this view would maintain significance only as part of legal history.

Criticism

A criticism of Hart's rule of recognition is that it is not definitively possible to recognize a rule as having passed "...all the tests provided by the rule of recognition," whereby reliance upon defeasible reasoning as justification that a rule has passed "...all the tests provided by the rule of recognition..." may be fallible.

As per Dworkin in "The Model of Rules" (1967), "..a rule of recognition cannot itself be valid, because by hypothesis it is ultimate, and so cannot meet tests stipulated by a more fundamental rule..."

See also

References

  1. ^ Hart, Herbert Lionel Adolphus, Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart, and Leslie Green. The concept of law. Oxford University Press, 2012.
  2. ^ Scott J. Shapiro, "WHAT IS THE RULE OF RECOGNITION (AND DOES IT EXIST)?".
  3. ^ "Philosophy of Law [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]". Archived from the original on 2008-09-14. Retrieved 2008-09-24.


Stub icon

This law-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Read other articles:

Network length (transport)

Total length of a transport network In transport terminology, network length (or, less often, system length) refers to the total length of a transport network, and commonly also refers to the length of any fixed infrastructure associated with the network. A measurement can be made of the network length of various different modes of transport, including rail, bus, road and air. The measurement may focus on one of a number of specific characteristics, such as route length, line length or track ...

 

Bucharest Old Town

Covaci Street, one of the many streets in the Old Town The Old Town is located in the center of Bucharest, Romania, and is known for its nightlife.[1] Ion C. Brătianu Boulevard crosses the historic center from north to south, dividing this area into two approximately equal parts. Also in this perimeter is the beginning of the Calea Moșilor. In addition to the 48 streets, between which are the following streets: Lipscani, Șelari, Covaci, Doamnei, Stavropoleos, Franceză, Șepcari, i...

 

2010 Indiana earthquake

Earthquake in Indiana, United States 2010 Indiana earthquakeMap of the maximum intensity in the surrounding counties with a star as the epicenter.UTC time2010-12-30 12:55:21ISC eventn/a USGS-ANSSComCatLocal dateDecember 30, 2010 (2010-12-30)Local time7:55 a.m.[1]Magnitude3.8 Mw Depth3 mi (4.83 km)Epicenter40°25′37″N 85°53′17″W / 40.427°N 85.888°W / 40.427; -85.888Areas affectedUnited StatesIndianaM...

Fortinet

American network security corporation Not to be confused with Fortnite. Fortinet, Inc.Company typePublicTraded asNasdaq: FTNTNasdaq-100 componentS&P 500 componentIndustryCloud SecurityCybersecurityNetwork SecurityFounded2000; 24 years ago (2000)FoundersKen XieMichael XieHeadquartersSunnyvale, California, U.S.Key peopleKen Xie (CEO)Michael Xie (CTO)Keith Jensen (CFO)ProductsFortinet Security FabricFortiGate NGFWFortiGate enterpriseFortiGate carrierFortiSwitchFortiAPF...

 

برج الحمل

الحمل برج الحمل المواليد 20 مارس - 19 أبريل اللون الأحمر كوكبه المريخ تعديل مصدري - تعديل   جزء من سلسلة مقالات حولالتنجيم خلفية تاريخ التنجيم العلم والتنجيم علم الفلك والتنجيم التقاليد والأنواع والأنظمة المنجمون المنظمات الفلكية الكواكب في علم التنجيم التقاليد التنجيم �...

 

Национальное аэрокосмическое агентство Азербайджана

Национальное аэрокосмическое агентство Азербайджана Штаб-квартира Баку, ул. С. Ахундова, AZ 1115 Локация  Азербайджан Тип организации Космическое агентство Руководители Директор: Натиг Джавадов Первый заместитель генерального директора Тофик Сулейманов Основание Осн�...

Oleksandr Sitkovskyi

Ukrainian long-distance runner Oleksandr Sitkovskyi Oleksandr SitkovskyyOleksandr Sitkovskyy in the marathon at the 2012 Olympics in LondonPersonal informationBorn (1978-06-09) June 9, 1978 (age 45)Zhovti Vody, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet UnionHeight1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)Weight68 kg (150 lb)SportCountry UkraineSportAthleticsEventMarathon Oleksandr Vasyliovych Sitkovskyi or Oleksandr Sitkovskyy (born 9 June 1978, Ukrainian: Олександр Васильови...

 

Tsakhur people

Lezgin sub-ethnic group Ethnic group Tsakhurйыхъбы (Yiqby), цIаIхбыTsakhur child from Qum, AzerbaijanTotal populationc. 30,000Regions with significant populations Russia  Dagestan 10,32012,796[1] Azerbaijan12,289[2] Ukraine83[3]LanguagesTsakhur, Lezgian, Azerbaijani, RussianReligionSunni Islam[4]Related ethnic groupsOther Northeast Caucasian-speaking peoplesEspecially Rutuls The Tsakhur or Saxur (Lezgian: ЦIахурар, Azerbaij...

 

2024 Australian Capital Territory general election

2024 Australian Capital Territory general election ← 2020 On or before 19 October 2024 2028 → All 25 seats of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly13 seats needed for a majority   Leader Andrew Barr Elizabeth Lee Shane Rattenbury Party Labor Liberal Greens Leader since 11 December 2014 27 October 2020 20 October 2012 Leader's seat Kurrajong Kurrajong Kurrajong Last election 10 seats, 37.8% 9 seats, 33.8% 6 seats, 13.5% Current se...

1884 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

Election in Wisconsin Main article: 1884 United States presidential election 1884 United States presidential election in Wisconsin ← 1880 November 4, 1884 1888 →   Nominee James G. Blaine Grover Cleveland Party Republican Democratic Home state Maine New York Running mate John A. Logan Thomas A. Hendricks Electoral vote 11 0 Popular vote 161,135 146,453 Percentage 50.38% 45.79% County Results Blaine   40-50%   50-60%  ...

 

John Milnor

John Willard MilnorLahir20 Februari 1931 (umur 93)Orange, New JerseyTempat tinggalAmerikaKebangsaanAmerikaAlmamaterPrinceton UniversityDikenal atasExotic spheresFary–Milnor theoremPenghargaanKompetisi Putnam (1949, 1950) Medali Fields (1962) National Medal of Science (1967) Penghargaan Steele (1982) Penghargaan Wolf (1989) Penghargaan Abel (2011)Karier ilmiahBidangMatematikaInstitusiStony Brook UniversityPembimbing doktoralRalph FoxMahasiswa doktoralTadatoshi Akiba Jon Folkman John Ma...

 

Bayamón, Puerto Rico

City and municipality in Puerto Rico Bayamón redirects here. Not to be confused with Bayamo. City and Municipality in Puerto Rico, United StatesBayamón Municipio Autónomo de BayamónCity and MunicipalityAerial view of BayamónBayamón City Hall above PR-2Invención de la Santa Cruz ParishJuan Ramón Loubriel StadiumPuerto Rico National CemeteryTren Urbano at Deportivo station FlagCoat of armsNicknames: La Ciudad del Chicharrón (The Porkrind City), La Ciudad de Vaqueros (The City of C...

Macadamia

Genus of plants indigenous to Australia Macadamia Macadamia nuts Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Clade: Tracheophytes Clade: Angiosperms Clade: Eudicots Order: Proteales Family: Proteaceae Subfamily: Grevilleoideae Tribe: Macadamieae Subtribe: Macadamiinae Genus: MacadamiaF.Muell. Type species Macadamia integrifoliaMaiden & Betche Species Macadamia integrifolia Maiden & Betche Macadamia jansenii C.L.Gross & P.H.Weston Macadamia ternifolia F.Muell. Macadamia tetraphylla ...

 

Проблема філософів, що обідають

Ілюстрація задачі Проблема філософів що обідають — типова проблема синхронізації процесів, що може виникати при паралельних обчисленнях. Зміст 1 Умова 2 Розв'язки 2.1 Офіціант 2.2 Ієрархія ресурсів 2.3 Приклад розв'язку проблеми мовою ANI[1] 3 Див. також 4 Примітки 5 Посилання ...

 

Laguna Lejía

Lake in Chile For the lake in the Ancash Region, Peru, see Lake Lejiacocha. Laguna LejíaLaguna Lejía with the Lascar, Aguas Calientes and Acamarachi volcanoes in the backgroundLaguna LejíaLocationAntofagasta RegionCoordinates23°30′00″S 67°41′33″W / 23.50000°S 67.69250°W / -23.50000; -67.69250Catchment area193 km2 (75 sq mi)[1]Basin countriesChileSurface area1.9 km2 (0.73 sq mi)[1]Surface elevation4,325&#...

Cato the Younger

Roman statesman, general and writer (95–46 BC) For other individuals, see Marcus Porcius Cato. Cato the YoungerInscribed bronze bust from VolubilisBorn95 BCRoman RepublicDiedApril 46 BC (aged 49)Utica, Africa, Roman RepublicCause of deathSuicideOccupationPoliticianKnown forOpposition to Julius CaesarOfficeMilitary tribune (67 BC)Quaestor (64 BC)Plebeian tribune (62 BC)Praetor (54 BC)[1]Spouses Atilia Marcia Children Marcus Porcius Cato Porcia ParentsMar...

 

سانت ماريز (جورجيا)

  لمعانٍ أخرى، طالع سانت ماريز (توضيح). سانت ماريز   الإحداثيات 30°45′23″N 81°34′17″W / 30.7564°N 81.5714°W / 30.7564; -81.5714   [1] تاريخ التأسيس 1792  تقسيم إداري  البلد الولايات المتحدة[2][3]  التقسيم الأعلى مقاطعة كامدن  خصائص جغرافية  المساحة 64.74058 �...

 

Regions of England

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (April 2020) Highest tier of sub-national division in England Regions of EnglandCategory Statistical regions Administrative region (1) LocationEnglandCreated1994Number 9 regions North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands West Midlands East of England London South East South West Additional statusITL 1 regionEuropean constituency (1999–2020)Pop...

ウシノシタ

この項目では、カレイ目ササウシノシタ科およびウシノシタ科の魚類について説明しています。 イワタバコ科の多年草（Streptocarpus wendlandii）については「ウシノシタ (植物)」をご覧ください。 ムラサキ科の多年草のウシノシタグサ（Anchusa azurea）については「ウシノシタグサ」をご覧ください。 「牛の舌」はこの項目へ転送されています。食材としての牛の舌部につ�...

 

أمير سوليمانوفيتش

هذه المقالة يتيمة إذ تصل إليها مقالات أخرى قليلة جدًا. فضلًا، ساعد بإضافة وصلة إليها في مقالات متعلقة بها. (مايو 2017) أمير سوليمانوفيتش معلومات شخصية الميلاد 13 يوليو 1995 (العمر 29 سنة)البوسنة والهرسك الطول 6 قدم 9 بوصة (2.1 م) مركز اللعب لاعب هجوم قوي الجسم  الجنسية  فن...