THE CONCEPT OF PRINCIPLES OF LAW
IN COMMON LAW DOCTRINE
A.V. KONOVALOV
DOI: 10.24031/1992-2043-2018-18-3-238-260
In the article the author analyzes the notion of “principles of law” in common law
doctrine and different ways of understanding of that concept. The author conducts
a thorough research of the most prominent legal scholars’ works, whose names belong
to the history of legal science, e.g. J. Bentham, D. Ostin, R. Dvorkin, R. Posner, G. Hart,
O. Holmes etc. The author analyzes how widely the concept of principles of law is
understood and what consequences such understanding can lead to in the practical
field. The author concludes that the concept of principles of law in common law doctrine
can be named neither as conceptually valid nor as practically effective. This implication
follows from the fact that common law systems allow alterations in the content of the
notion due to the current demands of the society.
Keywords: common law doctrine; principles of law; theory of law; application of
principles of law.
References
Alekseev S.S. Voskhozhdenie k pravu. Poiski i resheniya [Climb to Law. Searches
and Solutions] (in Russian). Moscow, 2001.
Austin J. Lectures on Jurisprudence. London: John Murray, 1869.
Austin J. The Province of Jurisprudence Determined. London: Weidenfeld &
Nicolson, 1954.
Bagshaw F. Tort Law, Concepts and What Really Matters // The Goals of Private
Law / Ed. by A. Robertson, H.W. Tang. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2009.
Bayles M.D. Legally Enforceable Commitments // Law and Philosophy. 1985.
Vol. 4(3).
Dvorkin R. O pravakh vser’ez [On Rights in Earnest] (in Russian) / Trans. from
English; ed. by L.B. Makeev. Moscow, 2004.
Finnis J. Natural Law: The Classical Tradition // The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence
and Philosophy of Law / Ed. by J. Coleman, S. Shapiro. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2004.
Fuller L. The Morality of Law. London: New Haven, 1969.
Hale M. The History of the Common Law of England. London, 1716.
Hanson S. L egal Method, Skills and Reasoning. 3rd ed. London: Routledge-Cavendish,
2010.
Harris J.W. Legal Philosophies. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Hart H.L.A. Essays in Jurisprudence and Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1983.
Hart H.L.A. The Concept of Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Hohfeld W.N. Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1946.
Holmes O.W. The Common Law. New York: Dover Publications, 1991.
Kress K. Coherence // A Companion to Philosophy of Law and the Legal Theory
/ Ed. by D. Patterson. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.
Levi E.H. An Introduction to Legal Reasoning // University of Chicago Law
Review. 1948. Vol. 15(3).
Llewellyn K. The Common Law Tradition. Deciding Appeals. Boston: Little, Brown &
Co., 1960.
Lucy W. What’s Private about Private Law? // The Goals of Private Law / Ed. by
A. Robertson, H.W. Tang. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2009.
Mill J.S. On Liberty in Utilitarianism, Liberty and Representative Government.
London: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1960.
Nozick R. Anarchy, State and Utopia. New York: Basic Books, 1974.
Philosophy of Law: Classic and Contemporary Readings / Ed. by L. May, J. Brown.
Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Posner R.A. Frontiers of Legal Theory. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004.
Robertson A. Constraints on Policy-Based Reasoning in Private Law // The Goals
of Private Law / Ed. by A. Robertson, H.W. Tang. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2009.
Rolz D. Teoriya spravedlivosti [The Theory of Justice] (in Russian). Novosibirsk,
1995.
Smith M.B.E. The Duty to Obey the Law // A Companion to Philosophy of Law
and the Legal Theory / Ed. by D. Patterson. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.
Stone J. The Province and Function of Law. London: Stevens, 1947.
Sunstein C.R. Incompletely Theorized Agreements // Philosophy of Law: Classic
and Contemporary Readings / Ed. by L. May, J. Brown. Chichester, UK: Wiley-
Blackwell, 2010.
The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham: An Introduction to the Principles of
Morals and Legislation / Ed. by J.H. Burns, H.L.A. Hart. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1970.
Webb C. Treating Like Cases Alike: Principle and Classification in Private Law //
The Goals of Private Law / Ed. by A. Robertson, H.W. Tang. Oxford: Hart Publishing,
2009.
Weinrib E.J. The Idea of Private Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Information about the author
Konovalov A.V. (Moscow) – Candidate of Legal Sciences (119991, Moscow,
GSP-1, Zhitnaya St., 14; e-mail: konovalov@minjust.ru).