Rola filozofii prawa w podejmowaniu decyzji sędziowskiej – rozważania w oparciu o filozofię Gustava Radbrucha
The Importance of The Philosophy of Law in Judicial Decision – Considerations Based on the Philosophy of Gustav Radbruch

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to discuss the influence that personal views on philosophy of law held by individual judges exerts on their judicial decisions in a connection with philosophy of Gustav Radbruch. Commonly, the subconscious philosophical position held by the judge towards the law determines the statutory interpretation and, thus, the final decision. Through the juxtaposition of Gustav Radbruch’s and Hans Kelsen’s schools of thinking, it is proven that philosophical outlook of the judges is very much relevant for the process of making judicial decisions. Lon Fuller’s notorious article “The Case of Speluncean Explorers” is used to illustrate the problem and demonstrate the causality between accepting the positivistic paradigm and the preference for formalistic interpretation of the law and, conversely, between the adherence to legal realism or naturalism and the preference for antiformalistic interpretation.Therefore, two key issues are introduced to prove the significance of philosophy of law for judicial decisions: the developments in philosophical and legal thought under the influence of law held by particular judges. historical events and the relationship between statutory interpretation and views on philosophy of law held by particular judges.

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