Hans Kelsen as Outliner: The Defence of a Radical Norm Theory

In his first treatise on legal theory, Hauptprobleme der Staatsrechtslehre (1911), Hans Kelsen seeks to recast legal norm theory in a way that would eliminate from the theory the imperative, with what Kelsen sees as its moral connotations. The result, Kelsen’s sanction theory, is not entirely successful. It leaves in place the imperative vis-à-vis legal officials, with obligations imposed on officials to implement sanctions. In the 1930s, Kelsen returns to the issue, radically recasting legal norm theory by introducing empowerment as the fundamental modality and obligation as merely derivative, a view that prevails in the second edition of the Reine Rechtslehre (1960).