Problem autonomii prawa w świetle hylemorficznej teorii J.B. Paszukanisa
The Question of the Autonomy of Law in the Light of E.B. Pašukanis’s Hylomorphic Theory

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this article is to examine the position of Evgenij BronislavovičPašukanis regarding the problem of autonomy of law. The source material for the research ishis monograph entitled The General Theory of Law and Marxism (1924), in which he laid downthe framework of his hylomorphic theory of law, also described as a materialist or realist theory.The article begins with a reconstruction of the basic assumptions of Pašukanis’s hylomorphictheory of law and then moves on to the key issue of his views on the genesis of juridical form.In the light of the analysis, the article shows that the essence of law in. Pašukanis’s view is thatit is a form which shapes and makes possible the relations of economic exchange that constituteits proper matter. Against this background, the article addresses the issue of the autonomy oflaw, indicating that it should be considered in two dimensions: the internal autonomy of law,i.e., the autonomy of juridical form in relation to its content, and the external autonomy of law,i.e., the autonomy of law in relation to the state, politics and ideology. When it comes to theinternal autonomy of law, the article points out that the relationship of the form of law to itsmatter is – in Pašukanis’s view – of a dialectical nature, which results in his rejection of Marx’sconception of law as a “superstructure” reflecting economic relations in the “base”. When itcomes to the external autonomy of law, Pašukanis is firmly on the side of a hard ontology oflaw, based on its hylomorphic substance (the composite of the matter of acts of exchange andits legal form), which makes law primary vis-à-vis the state and politics and essentially distinctfrom ideology. This does not, of course, exclude the ideological nature of law, but – againcontrary to Marxists – Pašukanis does not allow for the recognition of law as an essentiallyideological phenomenon.

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