TFL Vsebine / Revija Pravnik

7

V kratki predstavitvi (prvega) slovenskega prevoda Fragmenta o vladavini Jeremyja Benthama avtor na kratko oriše okoliščine, v katerih je to kratko besedilo nastalo, in strnjeno predstavi štiri poudarke, ki se mu zdijo vredni pozornosti. Prvi poudarek se nanaša na Benthamovo razločevanje med dvema držama pri opisovanju prava: pristopom razlagalca in pristopom kritika, ki postavi temelje pozitivistične metodologije. Drugi poudarek se osredotoča na tako imenovano zapovedno teorijo prava, ki jo povečini povezujemo z Johnom Austinom. Avtor dokazuje, da bi kot resničnega avtorja te teorije morali priznati Benthama. Tretji poudarek izpostavlja Benthamovo kritiko naravnega prava, kar ga uvršča med prve polnokrvne pravne pozitiviste. Četrti poudarek pa izpostavlja redko opažen odlomek v Fragmentu, v katerem se zdi, da Bentham omenja možnost ustavnosodne presoje zakonov in poda nekaj opažanj o taki možnosti. Avtor zaključi svoj zapis z nekaj opažanji o slovenskem prevodu dela.

In this cursory presentation of the (first) Slovenian translation of Jeremy Bentham’s Fragment on Government the author briefly outlines the background in which this famed pamphlet appeared and proceeds to comment briefly on four topics deserving of attention. The first is Bentham influential insistence on the fundamental difference between expository and censorial approach to law, which laid the foundation of positivist methodology. The second centres on his outline of what has become known as command theory of law and (still) attributed predominantly to John Austin. The reviewer argues that Bentham should be more widely credited as the real founding father of this theory. The third emphasises his critique of natural law, which makes Bentham one of the first fully-fledged legal positivist. The fourth tries to shed light to an obscure passage in which Bentham seems to visualise the possibility of and comments on judicial review, in particular, the court’s power to strike down legislation. Finally, the review offers some observations on the Slovenian translation.

Bentham’s “Fragment”– Discovering the Roots of Modernity