austins theory of law :: essays research papers

Laws in the most general sense be rules made by one intelligent being for the guidance of a nonher intelligent being, the source having supply over the latter.- All rectitudes are a species of rule, a command being an expression of a wish or desire that well-nigh other person do something. Commands back end only be issued by one who has the power and intention to inflict a sanction in the event of disobedience.- A legal duty is a liability to a sanction for refusal to comply with a command. Hence, commands and duties are correlative there cant be one without the other. Commands are said to bind or oblige the person to whom they are directed. Sanctions are always intended to be evils, never goods. Rewards (bribes) cannot be sanctions.- Conclusion regarding the basic definition of law a command that obliges a person to observe a general physical body of conduct, issued by a blue-ribbon(prenominal) (in power) to an inferior.- Special problemsCustomary laws and rules of common worship which may appear to oblige independently of any surpassing power are not really laws until recognized by a court. coarse laws (judge-made law) likewise may appear not to stem from a superior power. Austin argues such laws are tacitly commanded by the state.Legal rights are creatures of law, but they are not physical exertiond by following orders the option to exercise a right is up to the owner of the right. Austin no law creates a right without also creating a correlative duty, hence the interrelate with commands.- Positive Law is a set of commands issued by a main(a) to his subjects. The sovereign is a determinate person or group (a) who receives usual obedience from the bulk of society (he is the superior power within his society) and (b) is not in a habit of obedience to a like superior group (independent of any other