The Limits of Positivist Legal Ethics: A Brief History, a Critique, and a Return to Foundations

W. Wendel
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引用次数: 2

Abstract

The “positivist turn” in legal ethics has found many scholars in the Anglo-American common-law world relating the duties of lawyers to the rights and duties assigned by the law to their clients. On this view, the role of lawyers should be understood as contributing to the law’s function of resolving conflict and establishing a framework for cooperation in a pluralist society. Critics of positivist legal ethics have suggested that it is impossible for lawyers to avoid resorting to moral considerations when representing clients. These critics claim that the guidance provided by law runs out at critical moments, leaving a lawyer no choice but to fall back on the moral considerations supposedly pre-empted by positive law. In particular they argue that the law cannot determine its own application, and normative questions remain regarding the interpretive attitude lawyers ought to take when representing clients. This paper responds to critics of positivist legal ethics by returning to foundations, specifically the values underpinning the rule of law as a practice of giving reasons based on norms established in the name of the political community.
实证主义法律伦理学的局限:简史、批判与回归基础
法律伦理的“实证主义转向”使英美普通法世界的许多学者将律师的义务与法律赋予其委托人的权利和义务联系起来。根据这一观点,律师的作用应被理解为促进法律在多元社会中解决冲突和建立合作框架的功能。实证主义法律伦理的批评者认为,律师在代表委托人时不可能避免诉诸道德考虑。这些批评者声称,法律提供的指导在关键时刻会失效,律师别无选择,只能求助于被实在法预先考虑的道德考虑。特别是,他们认为法律不能决定其本身的适用,关于律师在代表客户时应该采取的解释态度的规范性问题仍然存在。本文通过回归实证主义法律伦理的基础来回应对实证主义法律伦理的批评,特别是回归作为基于以政治共同体名义建立的规范给出理由的实践的法治的基础价值。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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