Use and Abuse of Intratextual Argumentation in Law
Cogency. Journal of Reasoning and Argumentation, vol. 3, 2011, pp. 33-52.
11 Pages Posted: 21 Dec 2016
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
What are the identity criteria of a legal system? Do legal systems depend on the ways they are represented by legal scholars? If so, is the number of legal systems equal to the number of their different representations?
In particular, our aim in this paper is to focus on the use of intratextual argumentation, according to which the interpretation of a legal provision is justified if it is coherent or consistent with the content of other legal provisions in the same act or code. In particular, we will consider the uses of intratextual argumentation which single out some subsystems within the same legal system, and we will ask under what conditions the application of this canon is justified and thus acceptable in legal decision-making.
Keywords: Intratextual Argumentation, Legal Interpretation, Legal Systems
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