THE RELATIVITY OF THE IDEA OF CONSISTENCY OF LEGAL SYSTEMS

The principles of unity, coherence and completeness represent the traditional idea of a legal system. The principle of coherence presents practical difficulties, because the criteria for resolving normative antinomies do not always offer an unambiguous solution. The problem goes deeper. These criteria, far from being inherent to legal reality, are relative and circumstantial. Its acceptance as a way of solving antinomies hides the real representation of the legal norm as the attribution of meaning to normative provisions. It also hides the real representation of the idea of the legal system as an expression of the dominant legal culture.