Natural Law, Positive Law, and Real Law: A Tridimensional Theory
Natural Law
Natural law, based on the enduring principles of nature itself, is a subjective human criterion. It is a synonym for justice for society and the law of society. It is customary, autogenerated in terms of how legal manifestation is spontaneous. According to law, in contrast to the temperature of proactive natural law, natural law is like a divine command by which God provides free configuration. The temperature of the speech of rationalist natural law is a set of rules inherent to human nature that man discovers through reason. Rational theological understands it as the set of rules deduced by human reason that are in conformity with the divine will.
Natural law can be studied from these perspectives:
- Those guided by unshakeable faith in God leave aside reason to faithfully follow their mandates.
- Those who disregard any belief in the divinity to seek truth through reason.
- Those who, believing in God, use reason to identify the provisions governing the divine creation.
Arguments Against Natural Law
- Natural law is not in the same conditions as positive law.
- Natural law does not guarantee peace or security.
- Positive law has invaded the fields that were covered by natural law, such as relations between states.
- Due to the ambiguity of the term “nature”, some laws have been erroneously considered as natural.
- There is no unanimity about what is right or wrong.
- The hypothesis that what is just because it is natural does not imply that it remains valid today.
Positive Law
Positive law is the set of laws in a given moment. It is the law of the authorities or the rules directly created by the will of the State. It translates the divine or human will. The expression “ius positivum” originates from “legen ponere”. It develops a function of providing legal certainty and provides citizens with a resolution of conflicts or a model of organization and coexistence.
Criticisms of Positive Law
Positive law can be criticized from two points of view:
- Once a rule is dictated by legitimate authorities, these documents are understood differently as a function of judges, including the judge himself, according to the function of settling, the dependence of arguments.
- Positive law is based on something as unreal as the will of the state. If the state is based on law, it is difficult to identify a specific intention behind the legal rules, and many are disconnected from individual wills.
Real Law
Real law is the effective realization of the norm. It is the trend of most modern legal thought and criticizes the two previous positions. It observes the behavior of the recipient of the standard of legal assimilation. The important recipient is a citizen who judges and makes the legislative document and the intention of the legislature. In the process of formation, psychological and sociological factors impact and identify with awareness, judicial decisions, and the general feeling of obligation and duty that takes the whole society.
Criticisms of Real Law
Real law can be criticized for some contempt for the rule of law, which is in a supporting role.
The Tridimensional Theory of Law
The tridimensional theory of law is a methodological tool for understanding legal reality and approving the concept of law, highlighting the different perspectives from which it can be seen to facilitate legal analysis. Law is a complex phenomenon, and given the dissatisfaction that produces the analysis of notions of natural, real, and positive law, appropriate integration is to provide a comprehensive consideration of the three dimensions of law. Thus, law is capable of being seen from a factual point of view as a social phenomenon, a normative point of view as a rule of law, and an evaluative standpoint as a value. The tridimensional theory is a simple tool for a more adequate understanding of legal reality and provides an orderly scheme and vision of the complexity of the legal phenomenon.