The concept of law is a 1961 book by the legal philosopher hla hart and his most famous work. Hart as simply acting on the citizen morally or immorally, justly or unjustly, as the case may be. Hart has well shown the way in which this view would increase the occasions for official interferences in our lives punishment and responsibility. Hart s contribution to analytical jurisprudence is undisputed.
Hart study guide and get instant access to the following biography. Oup uncorrected proof firstproofs, thu may 08 2014, newgen dd 279 582014. Session 12 hart and honore, selections from causation in the law. I draw here upon the important work of malcolm thorburn. His father was a jewish tailor of german and polish origin. There is a long tradition of mixed theories of punishment in the seventeenth century.
It continues to influence and dominate scholarly discussion, most. Mar 06, 2008 this classic collection of essays, first published in 1968, has had an enduring impact on academic and public debates about criminal responsibility and criminal punishment. Peter cane responsibility in law and morality 2002. In moral case, we make judgments of responsibility to assign praise and blame, to. Forty years on, its arguments are as powerful as ever. Hla hart, the concept of law clarendon press 1961 16784. However, they display a lack of understanding of legal positivism. Hart s other primary substantive contribution, which i do not discuss here, was his analysis of legal cause. Thirty pages of notes mostly new are appended at the end and contain the authors.
How might moral responsibility and legal responsibility come apart, even in a just legal. Herbert hart was born in 1907, the son of rose samson hart and simeon hart, in harrogate, to which his parents had moved from the east end of london. Fifty years on from its original publication, hla harts the concept of law is widely recognized as the most important work of legal philosophy published in t. It is inflicted only on those who are guilty of violating the law. Hla hart, punishment and responsibility oxford university press, 1968 181 and see also. Responsibility without consciousness oxford journal of. It has desirable consequences, such as the deterrence of crime. Courts to determine what the rules require and when they have been broken, and to fix the punishment or compensation to be paid 5. Law, liberty, morality hla hart the legal enforcement of morality. In the concept of law, professor hart carefully analyzes the notion of a social rule. Nine of his essays on the criminal law were collected in punishment and responsibility 1968. Hart s landmark contribution to the philosophy of criminal responsibility and punishment. Hla hart, punishment and responsibility 1st, clarendon press, oxford 1968 5. In 1968 he was asked by oxford university to chair a commission on relations with junior members, then at a low ebb, and produced a notably perceptive and constructive report.
He was educated at bradford grammar school and new college oxford, where he obtained a brilliant first class in classical greats. Hla harts punishment and responsibility john gardner at home. Hla hart distinguished between roleresponsibility referring to the duties attaching to certain roles or. Hart offers an alternative to retributive thinking about criminal punishment that nevertheless preserves the central distinction between guilt and. Herbert lionel adolphus hart 18 july 190719 december 1992 was an influential legal philosopher of the 20th century. Negligence, mens rea, and criminal responsibility oxford. This classic collection of essays, first published in 1968. Law, liberty, morality hla hart the legal enforcement of morality there are more, 4 we can list 1 historical and causal question. Oup uncorrected proof firstproofs, thu may 08 2014, newgen dd 279 582014 2. Some punishments are ruled out as too barbarous or horrible to be used whatever their social utility. Essays in the philosophy of law oxford, oxford university press, 1968 chs 2, 4 and 8. This classic collection of essays, first published in 1968, represents h. Hart this classic collection of essays, first published in 1968, has had an enduring impact on academic and public debates about criminal responsibility and criminal punishment. The bulk of harts writing on criminal law is devoted to discussion of these three points, and i will consider each of them in turn.
Harts contribution to analytical jurisprudence is undisputed. The limits of philosophy in historical perspective nicola lacey, professor of criminal law and legal theory, london school of. The concept of law presents harts theory of legal positivismthe view that laws are rules made by humans and that there is no inherent or necessary connection between law and moralitywithin the framework of analytic philosophy. Hart sought to provide a theory of descriptive sociology and. Acknowledgments of indebtedness to professor hart appear in the prefaces of several recent books of importance in philosophy. Mixed theories hold that punishment is just only if two conditions are met. Wasserstrom in both the english and the american legal systems, a persons liability to punishment is generally made dependent upon certain mental conditions in addition, of course, to the commission of certain proscribed acts, etc. For example, hart says in the course of a discussion of capital punishment. The radical orthodoxy of harts punishment and responsibility.
Hart offers an alternative to retributive thinking about criminal punishment that nevertheless preserves the. His approach to law and the legal system, most comprehensively developed in the concept of law,1 has shaped the landscape of legal philosophy in the angloamerican sphere and beyond. Professor hart does in the concept of law, to illuminate the distinctive structure of law and to elucidate such basic legal concepts as sovereignty, legal validity, and obligation. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Concept of international law in the jurisprudence of h. I would like to begin by thanking john gardner, his colleagues in the oxford law faculty, and the tanner trustees, for the invitation to deliver this lecture in memory of h. He practised at the chancery bar from 1932 to 1940 along with richard later lord wilberforce.
Clearly the most influential essay in this volume is the first, prolegomenon to the principles of punishment, originally delivered as the presidential address to the aristotelian society in 1959. Hart published the concept of law, his most extensive and systematic essay in general jurisprudence. Unavailable for ten years, this new edition reproduces the original text, adding a new critical introduction by john gardner, a leading contemporary criminal law theorist. Individual liability three 1 individual liability iii. In what follows, therefore, i shall use harts analysis of the rule of law as a jumping off point to consider the relationship between conceptual and historical analysis. This deficiency is particularly true with respect to h. Hart s philosophy of criminal law is helpfully contained in his 1968 collection punishment and responsibility. This classic collection of essays, first published in 1968, has had an enduring impact on academic and public debates about criminal responsibility and criminal punishment. Hart published 1968 political science introduction 1. Hart, the ascription of responsibility and rights, 49 proc.
Essays in the philosophy of law, chapter 1, prolegomenon to the principles of punishment. Criminal law in the age of the administrative state. There are hints here and there in the text that point in this direction. The chapter then argues that turners conclusions about the place of negligence in the common law rest on a mistaken conception, both of the way in which mental or subjective elements are involved in human action, and of the reasons why we attach the great importance which we do to. Hla herbert hart 19071992 hart was the son of a jewish tailor of polish and german descent. Competition law 2008 19 kings lj 364, following the examples set by hla hart, punishment and responsibility clarendon press 1968 and h packer, the limits of the criminal sanction oup 1968. Faultvariations on individual liability strict and. Oup uncorrected proof firstproofs, thu may 08 2014. Harts landmark contribution to the philosophy of criminal responsibility and punishment. Although this broad classifcation has been challenged, but the two words are used to group together a set of very diverse theories. There is nothing wrong with extending the notion of primary rules to permit, as well as to require and to forbid. Gardner, in troduction in hla h art, punishment an d responsibility 2nd edn, 2008 ix.
A legislature to make new rules and abolish old ones. Punishment and responsibility is still regarded as one of the cornerstones of both penal philosophy and the burgeoning field of criminal law theory in britain, australia, israel and north america. Harts interpretation of morality as a social practice is exemplied by punishment and responsibility n 1 182. Hart s punishment and responsibility is a collection of previously published philosophical essays on criminal law. Hart and the doctrines of mens rea and criminal responsibility richard a. Law, liberty, morality hla hart the legal enforcement. Turners famous essay on negligence, the mental element in crimes at common law.
Hla hart, prolegomenon to the principles of punishment in punishment and responsibility oxford. Positivism, natural law, hla hart, austin flashcards quizlet. Essays in the theory of responsibility 1st, princeton university press, princeton 1970 98. Though he does also criticise denunciatory theories for confusing the aims of the criminal law condemning socially undesirable conduct with the aims of punishment, ibid pp. Harts punishment and responsibility is a collection of previously published philosophical essays on criminal law. Hart offers an alternative to retributive thinking about criminal punishment that nevertheless preserves the central distinction between guilt and innocence. Harts philosophy of criminal law is helpfully contained in his 1968 collection punishment and responsibility. Though he does also criticise denunciatory theories for confusing the aims of the criminal law condemning socially undesirable conduct. The age of criminal responsibility may be regarded as the age at which the.
413 1573 390 1465 219 522 1465 279 392 319 1498 296 1150 868 1087 578 1130 54 980 854 1519 66 905 1465 181 674 796 1419 325 895 653 822 619 1017 152 1454 1280 1259 1436 1095 569 123 1276