Interconection 3 : Law / Customs / Morality There is a connection between these three elements and the history of Western legal

According to certain schools of Jurisprudence, laws which are inconsistent with morality and/or customs are illegitimated, invalid and not legal. This positions aligns the philosophical tradition of Natural Law (Natural Law School) which has had several periods of dominance from medieval period (16th century) through 18th century. ! According to some modern and contemporary legal theories, acting in conformity with the positive law may be unjust or morally incorrect, but it reminds legal and valid. From this point of view Law may be unjust (summum jus summa injuria), but it is law simply because its meaning is to be just (Radbruch). As long as the legislator makes an effort to adopt laws according to this goal the legal norms are valid, regardless of how unjust they actually are. This position is associated with the Analytical tradition and Positivism, which has had its greatest influence in 19th and 20th centuries. !

Interconection 3 : Law / Customs / Morality WHAT LAW IS ? An Introduction to Law ! SECTION 1 LAW AND ORDER & SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF LAW ! WEEK 4.2 LAW AS SOCIAL ORDER: The representations of law !! Guidelines for Erasmus & International Students Plan para la internacionalizacin de la docencia universitaria UCM Docencia en ingls Dr. M. TERESA GARCIA-BERRIO H. PhD. Univ. Professor in Jurisprudence & Theory of Law !

! FACULTAD DE DERECHO UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID Law is an artificial mechanism designed to channel human behavior into the directions society wants (Anthony DAmato) ! Law as mechanism consists of three elements: Words and other signs and symbols that contain the language of law. This group of signs and symbols is what we normally call the law itself. A Setup of authoritative interpreters and appliers of the law (for instance, courts and judges). A Setup of enforcers of the law (for instance, police and prison systems) ! When the words of the law tell us to do something or refrain from doing something, we react to those words. Law uses ordinary language and ordinary words have a signaling power to humans. This means that words are signal to the human minds and our bodies respond to those signals.