FEMINISTYCZNA JURYSPRUDENCJA JAKO WSPÓŁCZESNA SZKOŁA PRAWNICZA
FEMINIST JURISPRUDENCE AS A CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL OF LEGAL THOUGHT

Summary/Abstract: Feminist jurisprudence was born in the 60–70' s of the last century in American legal academic circles. The paper presents and critically assesses the genesis and basic tenets of the given theory of law. Feminist jurisprudence is a combination of descriptive and normative statements. On descriptive level feminist legal theory demonstrates what the law is, how it works and the ways in which it hurts, marginalizes, demeans women as a class. On the normative level feminist jurisprudencecalls for the appriopriate reform of the law in accordance with the interests of women. The article reveals feminist legal theory's faults on both levels. Some descriptive claims are based on empirically false, dubious, disputed, stigmatizing or unverifiable data, eg. „Law is patriarchal institution”, „The law is a tool of sexual objectification of women” or „All men are potential rapists”. Legal operationalisation of various feminist demands in turn challenges the paradigms that constitute the identity of Western legal orders, eg. the conception of affirmative consent in sexual offences cases results in shifting the burden of proof and consequently infringement of the presumption of innocence. In conclusion the author wishes the feminist jurisprudence remained in the service of genuine rights and needs of women, like its antecedence, namely suffragette movement, over a century ago.

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