Legal Principles in the Discourse of Croatian Legal Science: what Qualifies a Norm as a Principle?
Legal Principles in the Discourse of Croatian Legal Science: what Qualifies a Norm as a Principle?

Summary/Abstract: Setting the framework for a broader research on legal principles, this paper analyses how legal principles are understood in the discourse of Croatian legal science. The main question posed in the paper is the following: what are the conditions under which Croatian legal science characterizes a norm as a principle (as opposed to a rule)? To this end, the inquiry starts by analysing the discourse about legal principles in some of the fundamental parts of Croatian legal doctrine. The paper continues by giving an overview of the contemporary views of legal principles in Croatian legal theory, determining the degree in which Croatian legal theory is based on the discourse of Croatian legal doctrine and the degree in which Croatian legal doctrine uses the analytical tools developed by Croatian legal theory. Finally, the paper evaluates the usefulness of the theoretical tools which Croatian legal doctrine uses in describing Croatian law in force.

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