The master's thesis in the broadest sense discusses the relationship between law and morality. It argues that, in order to properly understand the law, it is necessary to take into account moral principles that justify explicit legal rules. At the same time, it wants to avoid discretion and arbitrariness, and therefore only the moral principles already embedded in the applicable law should be relevant. We can recognize this “embedded moral principles” with a constructive interpretation of legal norms. The main part of the thesis is therefore devoted to the interpretation of the law. Any approach to law is possible only as an interpretation of it. The interpretation should fit the legal material in such a way, that the point of the rules and the entire legal system is preserved.
Thesis advocates understanding of law, which is halfway between legal positivism and legal pragmatism – law as integrity. It requires the state and the citizens to respect the same values in a principled and coherent way. Judges should understand the legal system as a meaningful whole, which reflects harmonious concepts of justice and fairness. This way, they will be able to discover the existing rights in all cases and will not be inventing new ones.
The last part of the thesis deals with the constructive interpretation of Statues (general and abstract legal instruments), which is particularly relevant for the European legal area.
At all times, the paper relates to the American legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin, a prodigious thinker, who has received surprisingly little attention in Slovenian literature.
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