Abstract
The functions of legislation are diverse and its actual impact on its addressees may vary considerably, in relation to different types of legal mechanisms. So legisprudence has to develop scholarship specialized in those different legal mechanisms. One mechanism deserving particular attention are the legal rights, and among them, what could be named agency rights. The purpose of the present paper is to put forward a tentative legisprudential discussion of such rights. After having defined agency rights by locating them in a typology of legal rights, it seeks to reconstruct their societal functions, analysing them as taking part in a broader set of mechanisms, which developed over the last centuries, and which are supposed to enable individuals to act as autonomous and productive members of the societies to which they belong. It pays particular attention to the role of specialists, and among them of jurists, in the functioning of these mechanisms, both as holders of agency rights, and as participating in the empowering of those who are expected to exercise their agency rights. It concludes arguing that legisprudence, by participating in the improvement of legislation guaranteeing these rights, might be playing a crucial role in the improvement of democratic institutions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Among other references, Hespanha (2003, p. 247) with a discussion of the difficult relationship between democratic principles and the defence of a professional elite legal culture.
- 2.
As an example, the Swiss Constitution adopted 1999; see the Message du Conseil fédéral introducing the new text (Conseil fédéral 1996, p. 120): “Écrit dans un langage simple, le projet constitutionnel est intelligible et bien structuré. Le citoyen s’y retrouve”.
- 3.
- 4.
See, for example, the session “Legal Encounters: When People Meets the Law” organized by Quentin Ravelli within the framework of the 2018 RCSL Conference, Lisbon, September 2018 (see the Conference Programme available on https://www.rcsl-sdj-lisbon2018.com). Actually, at the occasion of that Conference, the creation of a new Working Group dealing with the lay knowledge of law was announced.
- 5.
References of several researches on this topic, Delpeuch et al. (2014, p. 69 f.).
- 6.
For a summary approach to this topic, see Almeida et al. (2014, p. 188 ff.).
- 7.
The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights does not include a general formulation of the political rights comparable to the one to be found in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 25: “Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity (…) without unreasonable restrictions (…) to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives.”
- 8.
Official Website of Human Rights Watch: https://www.hrw.org/legacy/women/abortion.html.
- 9.
About the Portuguese case, see the new legislation passed by the Parliament in April 2018, replacing Law Nr. 7/2011 of 15 March 2011.
- 10.
Additional references in Guibentif (2013).
- 11.
A statement explicit in this sense is made, in the course of the French Revolution, by the at that moment of history president of the Parliament, Boissy D’Anglas, in defence of a constitution draft recognizing, for the first time in the process of the French Revolution, the right to privacy, formulating what the Nation is entitled to expect from the part of those to whom it recognizes, among other rights, the right to privacy: “Let us reward those simple and private virtues, which enchantment is of all moments, which benefits are of all hours; let us honour the good son, the good friend, the hard-working and faithful spouse. Decency should obtain roses from your part, and innocence a crown of flowers. Call beneficent the man who, in his own poverty, did host the old age or the abandoned infancy; the one who did enrich his country with a useful discovery, who did introduce, on its territory, a new kind of culture, or did succeed in making sprout a plant unknown by its agriculture. Do not spare efforts for your celebrations to be moral, and your rewards to be political. The love of glory, peaceful virtues, the attachment to private duties, here are the foundations of a republican government, here are the motivations you have to use” (Projet de Constitution pour la République française et discours préliminaire prononcé par Boissy-D’Anglas au nom de la Commission des Onze dans la séance du 5 Messidor, an III, imprimé par ordre de la Convention nationale, Paris, Imprimerie de la République, Messidor, an III [1795]; available from http://books.google.pt/books?id=gh9CAAAAcAAJ&hl=pt-PT&source=gbs_similarbooks [Accessed February 2018], p. 74, our emphasis; document analysed in the course of a research on the genesis of the right to privacy, to be published soon).
- 12.
For a critical appraisal of Sen’s theory of human rights, considering its individualistic bias, see Bessy (2007, p. 304). The necessity of successful cooperation for the actualization of individual projects, emphasized by Honneth’s concept of social liberty, and the possibility of a will to contribute directly to the collective wellbeing, compatible with Sen’s reasoning, could help to reduce this bias.
- 13.
An intriguing question which will not be discussed here is the following: are completely different evolutions—experience of societal change without changes at the scale of individuals, or vice-versa—possible and could such different evolutions have taken place in other regions of the world? Positive answers to this question could deeply change the conditions under which the discussion introduced in the present essay would have to be carried out. But this discussion must not dispense the analysis of our own historical experience. So what is introduced here is a necessary, even if not sufficient, part of the work required for a critical theory adequate for the current state of the debates in social sciences.
- 14.
For the purpose of this paper we combine two definitions of society: on the one hand national societies, corresponding to the scope of application of national legal systems, and the world society. Migration and cultural hybridization did challenge the reality of national societies, but nevertheless these national societies are spaces of shared historical experience, as it could be observed, for example, in Spain and Portugal during the recent period of austerity (Calvo García 2014; Guibentif 2016). World society is a rather inconsistent reality, but it has some existence, at least as the collectivity concerned by the activity on international organizations.
- 15.
- 16.
It is to be noticed that the concept of utopia suffered a significant evolution in more recent times. Certainly in close connection with the evolution of the socialist regimes, the meaning of the term has evolved, being used in later years to name a social world which has been isolated from history, and from which conflicts are absent (Dahrendorf 1958).
- 17.
This section disappears in the 1960 edition. Some fragments of it are to be found in Kelsen ([1960] 1984, p. 61). As far as I could check, the quoted sentences of the 1934 edition were not maintained.
- 18.
One could argue that we witness a process of international institutionalization of such utopias, with the definition, by the General Assembly of the United Nations, of the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations 2015).
- 19.
Picking up the valuable intuition of Van Klink (in this volume), that institutions need their “little helpers” in the form of theories providing thought and action of people involved in their functioning with useful references of orientation.
- 20.
Concept applied by Oliver-Lalana (2011, p. 325) to the communication between jurists, who proposes its extension to the communication between the legal system and the citizenry.
- 21.
- 22.
For an interpretation of this process in terms departing from the traditional interpretation emphasising democratizing pressures emanating from the people itself, Thornhill (2018).
- 23.
Explicit aim, in the case of France, of the setting up of the Institut as the centre of the educational system to be developed (Gusdorf 1978, p. 305 f.).
- 24.
- 25.
- 26.
One example is supplied by Meßerschmidt (2019, in this volume), who argues that legisprudence has to be imaginative considering the need of the “containment of lobbyism”. In the oral presentation of the paper he called for the “creativity of jurists” in this domain.
- 27.
- 28.
One example: article 64 of the Portuguese Estatuto da Carreira Docente Universitária, Decree-Law Nr. 205/2009 of 31 August 2009 about the liberty of scientific orientation and opinion of University lecturers. See https://dre.pt/web/guest/pesquisa/-/search/488485/details/maximized (accessed February 2018).
- 29.
On this point, see for instance Braibant (2001, p. 35)
- 30.
About the role of legislation in the articulation between rights, see Webber et al. (2018, pp. 22, 55 ff.).
- 31.
References
Almeida MT de, Caupers J, Guibentif P (2014) Feitura das Leis. Portugal e a Europa. Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos, Lisbon. https://www.ffms.pt/estudo/107/feitura-de-leis-portugal-e-a-europa. Accessed Feb 2018
Baer S (2015) Rechtssoziologie. Eine Einführung in die interdisziplinäre Rechtsforschung. Nomos, Baden-Baden
Bar-Siman-Tov I (2019) The global revival of legisprudence: a comparative view on legislation in legal education and research. In: Oliver-Lalana AD (ed) Conceptions and misconceptions of legislation. Springer, Cham (in this volume)
Belley J-G (2002) Le pluralisme juridique comme doctrine de la science du droit. In: Kellerhals J, Roth R, Manaï D (eds) Pour un droit pluriel –Études offertes au professeur Jean-François Perrin. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel, pp 135–165
Bessy C (2007) Le libéralisme d’Amartya Sen (Compte rendu de l’ouvrage: La liberté au prisme des capacités, Amartya Sen au-delà du libéralisme). Economie et Institutions 10/11:285–305
Bourdieu P ([1986] 1987) The force of law – toward a sociology of the juridical field. Hast Law J 38: 814–853 (trans. of La force du droit – Éléments pour une sociologie du champ juridique. Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales 64:3–19)
Bourdieu P (1997) Méditations pascalienne. Seuil, Paris
Braibant G (2001) La Charte des droits fondamentaux de l’Union européenne. Témoignage et commentaires. Seuil, Paris
Calvo García M (2014) Crisis económica y efectividad de los derechos sociales. In: Bernuz Benéitez MJ, Calvo García M (eds) La eficacia de los derechos sociales. Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, pp 89–132
Commaille J (2015) À quoi nous sert le droit? Gallimard (Folio), Paris
Conseil fédéral (Switzerland) (1996) Message relatif à une nouvelle constitution fédérale. Bern, 20 novembre 1996
Dahrendorf R (1958) Out of Utopia – toward a reorientation of sociological analysis. Am J Sociol 64:115–127
De Munck J (2017) Human rights and capabilities: a program for a critical sociology of law. Crit Sociol (Online First):1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920517715764
Delpeuch T, Dumoulin L, de Galembert C (2014) Sociologie du droit et de la justice. Armand Colin, Paris
Dworkin R (1977) Taking rights seriously. Duckworth, London
EU (2005) EU Charter for researchers. https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/european-charter. Accessed Feb 2018
Ewick P, Silbey S (1998) The common place of law – stories from everyday life. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Guibentif P (2013) Rights in Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory. In: Febbrajo A, Harste G (eds) Law and intersystemic communication – understanding ‘structural coupling’. Ashgate, London, pp 255–288
Guibentif P (2015) Theorien und Menschen im Werk von Gunther Teubner. Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie 35:5–27. https://doi.org/10.1515/zfrs-2015-0103
Guibentif P (2016) Societal conditions of self-constitution – the experience of the European Periphery. In: Přibáň J (ed) Self-constitution of European society. Beyond EU politics law and governance. Routledge, New York, pp 274–313
Guibentif P (2017) Entre agir sociétal et subjectivités – Pour un concept du politique dérivé de Niklas Luhmann. In: Sosoe L (ed) Systèmes psychiques et systèmes sociaux chez Luhmann. Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim, pp 99–132
Gusdorf G (1978) Les sciences humaines et la pensée occidentale – VIII. La conscience révolutionnaire. Les Idéologues. Payot, Paris
Habermas J ([1963] 1974) Natural law and revolution. In: Habermas J (ed) Theory and practice. Heinemann, London, pp 82–120
Habermas J ([1981] 1987) The theory of communicative action. Polity Press, Cambridge (original German publication: 1981)
Hart HLA ([1961] 1994) The concept of law, 2nd edn. with a Postscript. Clarendon Press, Oxford
Hespanha AM (2003) Cultura Jurídica Europeia. Síntese de um Milénio. Publicações Europa-América, Mem Martins
Honneth A ([2011] 2014) Freedom’s right. The social foundations of democratic life. Columbia University Press, New York (original German edition: Honneth A, Das Recht der Freiheit. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main)
Kebir L, Crevoisier O, Costa P, Peyrache-Gadeau V (2017) Sustainable innovation and regional development: rethinking innovative Milieus. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
Kelsen H (1934) Reine Rechtslehre. Einleitung in die rechtswissenschaftliche Problematik. Franz Deuticke, Vienna
Kelsen H (1960) Reine Rechtslehre. Einleitung in die rechtswissenschaftliche Problematik. Franz Deuticke, Vienna (zweite, vollständig neu bearbeitete und erweiterte Auflage) (Portuguese translation: H. Kelsen, Teoria Pura do Direito, trans. C. Arménio Amado, 1984)
Luhmann N ([1970] 1981) Zur Funktion der ‘subjektiven Rechte’. In: Luhmann N, Ausdifferenzierung des Rechts. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main, pp 360–373 (orig. publ.: 1970)
Luhmann N (1980) Gesellschaftsstruktur und Semantik 1. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main
Luhmann N (1981) Subjektive Rechte: Zum Umbau des Rechtsbewusstseins für die moderne Gesellschaft. In: Luhmann N, Gesellschaftsstruktur und Semantik 2. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main, pp 45–104
Luhmann N (1989) Gesellschaftsstruktur und Semantik 3. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main
Luhmann N (1995) Gesellschaftsstruktur und Semantik 4. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main
Mannheim K ([1929] 1952) Ideologie und Utopie. Verlag G. Schulte-Bulmke, Frankfurt am Main
Marshall TH ([1950] 1992) Citizenship and social class. In: Marshall TH, Bottomore T (eds) Citizenship and social class. Pluto Press, London, pp 3–51 (orig. publ.: 1950)
Meja V, Stehr N (eds) (1982) Der Streit um die Wissenssoziologie. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main
Meßerschmidt K (2019) Special interest legislation and legislative capture. In: Oliver-Lalana AD (ed) Conceptions and misconceptions of legislation. Springer, Cham (in this volume)
Oliver-Lalana AD (2011) Legitimidad a través de la comunicación. Un estudio sobre la opacidad y la publicidad del derecho. Comares, Granada
Ost F (2016) À quoi sert le droit? Usages, fonctions, finalités. Bruylant, Bruxelles
Parsons T (1954) A sociologist looks at the legal professions. In Parsons T (ed) Essays in sociological theory. MacMillan/The Free Press, New York/London, pp 370–385
Sen A ([2004] 2008) Éléments d’une théorie des droits humains. In: de Munck J, Zimmermann B (eds) La liberté au prisme des capacités. Amartya Sen au-delà du libéralisme. Éditions de l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences politiques, Paris, pp 139–183. Orig. publ. Philosophy and Public Affairs 32 (2004):315–356
Sen A (2009) The idea of justice. Penguin, London
Supiot A (2015) La Gouvernance par les nombres. Cours au Collège de France (2012–2014). Fayard, Paris
Szende P (1922) Verhüllung und Enthüllung. Der Kampf der Ideologien in der Geschichte. Archiv für die Geschichte des Sozialismus und der Arbeiterbewegung 10:183–270
Teubner G (1996) Globale Bukowina: Zur Emergenz eines transnationalen Rechtspluralismus. Rechtshistorisches J 15:255–290
Teubner G (2012) Constitutional fragments: societal constitutionalism and globalization. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Teubner G (2014) Recht und Sozialtheorie: Drei Probleme. Ancilla Iuris 9:182–221. Available on http://www.anci.ch/articles/ancilla2014_183_teubner.pdf
Thornhill C (2018) The sociology of law and the global transformation of democracy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Touraine A (1984) Le retour de l’acteur. Fayard, Paris
United Nations (2015) Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by General Assembly of the United Nations on 25 September 2015. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals.
Van Klink B (2019) Legislation, communication, and authority. How to account for the bindingness of law? In: Oliver-Lalana AD (ed) Conceptions and misconceptions of legislation. Springer, Cham (in this volume)
Van Klink B, Van Beers B, Poort L (eds) (2016) Symbolic legislation theory and developments in biolaw. Springer, Cham
Waldron J (1999) The dignity of legislation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Webber G et al (2018) Legislated rights – securing human rights through legislation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
World Conferences on Research Integrity (WCRI) (2010) Singapore statement on research integrity. WCRI Foundation, Amsterdam. http://www.singaporestatement.org. Accessed Feb 2018
Xanthaki H (2019) Misconceptions in legislative quality: an enlightened approach to the drafting of legislation. In: Oliver-Lalana AD (ed) Conceptions and misconceptions of legislation. Springer, Cham (in this volume)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Guibentif, P. (2019). Taking Modern Legislation Seriously: Agency Rights as a Special Challenge. In: Oliver-Lalana, A. (eds) Conceptions and Misconceptions of Legislation. Legisprudence Library, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12068-9_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12068-9_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12067-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12068-9
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)