1468-0386/asset/eulj_left.gif?v=1&s=c4b3bf1667e2d13471f48d0395e80a3277a93c3b)
1468-0386/asset/eulj_centre.gif?v=1&s=a37d8b54410fd422421110ff1eb48f47d21fe7fd)
1468-0386/asset/eulj_right.gif?v=1&s=998d993212de49533580c3dcb5534a4f718075cd)
Legal Pluralism and the European Union
Article first published online: 6 APR 2006
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0386.2006.00319.x
Additional Information
How to Cite
Barber, N. W. (2006), Legal Pluralism and the European Union. European Law Journal, 12: 306–329. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0386.2006.00319.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 6 APR 2006
- Article first published online: 6 APR 2006
- First Submitted June 2005 Final Revision Accepted November 2005
Abstract: This article advances a pluralist model of a legal system. It claims that a legal system is pluralist when it contains inconsistent rules of recognition that cannot be legally resolved from within the system. The first part of the article sets out the model, demonstrating why it requires a departure from the classical accounts of law advanced by writers such as Hart and Kelsen. The second half applies this model to actual legal orders: first, to Rhodesia during the crisis of 1965, and then to the legal orders of the European Union. It is argued that there are interesting and important points of similarity between the two.