The Pure Theory's Concept of Law

Kelsen’s pure theory of law examines law from various perspectives, which is why we cannot find a one-sentence definition. This chapter attempts to analyse the individual elements of Kelsen’s concept of law. First, it deals with the understanding of law as a normative order. This results in a double distinction: on the one hand, from all sociological attempts to derive law from facts, and on the other hand, from doctrines that seek to justify or at least limit the validity of law from natural law sources. The objective validity of law is derived from a presupposed and purely formal basic norm. According to the positivist approach, law is based on distinctive human acts of will. Moreover, only a regularly effective coercive order is regarded as a legal order. Another essential feature of the pure theory of law is the insight into the hierarchical structure of the legal order; the law itself regulates its own creation.