TFL Vsebine / Revija Revus

Alf Ross je želel izoblikovati »pristno« realistično teorijo prava. To pomeni, da naj bi bila ta sposobna po eni strani razrešiti probleme, s katerimi sta se soočali tako Kelsnova normativistična teorija kot teorija ameriških realistov, po drugi strani pa poustvariti njihove razprave na znanstveni način. Rossova izvirnost tiči v njegovem pojmu pristojnostnih (ali kompetenčnih) norm, ki jih je pred vsemi drugimi (vključno s Searlom) obravnaval kot »konstitutivna pravila«. V nasprotju s trditvami mnogih komentatorjev takšen pojem konstitutivnih norm ni neskladen z Rossovo realistično teorijo prava. V luči njegovih zgodnjih zapisov je mogoče kompetenčne norme razumeti kot racionalizacije, ki lahko izrazijo nagnjenost naslovnikov norm, da določena dejstva prepoznajo kot pravo. Zato je mogoče Rossa šteti za prehodnika postpozitivizma.

Alf Ross wanted his legal theory to be a “genuinely” realist one, i.e. capable, firstly, to dissolve some problems of both Kelsenʼs normativist theory and the American realist theory and, secondly, to reconstruct their discourses in a scientific way. The originality of his attempt lies in his concept of norms of competence which he analyses, before others (and including Searle) as “constitutive rules”. Contrary to what many commentators claimed, such a concept of constitutive norm does not contradict his realist theory. In the light of his first writings, norms of competence can be considered as rationalizations able to express the predisposition of the addressees of norms to recognize certain special facts as law. Consequently, Ross can be seen as a precursor of postpositivism.