Freedom, Property and Equality in the Theory of `Fundamental Rights'. A Commentary on an Essay by Luigi Ferrajoli

The essay that Luigi Ferrajoli published inTeoria politica is a partial, althoughvery important, preview of an importanttheoretical work on which he has been labouringfor several years. Ferrajoli is knownto be aiming at achieving a rigorousformalisation of the theory of subjectiverights, an undertaking to which he first turnedhis hand at the beginning of the seventies,with the book Teoria assiomatizzata deldiritto, in which he laid the foundations forhis subsequent work, including his extensivetreatise of the theory of criminal law,Diritto e ragione.So it is quite natural that this new essaycontains a quantity of references to conceptualcategories that come together in a veritableWeltanschauung, as it used to be called at onetime, in addition to an epistemology and ageneral theory of law.In order to discuss all his theses in thisessay as seriously as they deserve, we reallyshould go back to that set of philosophicalpremises to which they refer – and whichFerrajoli tends to nurture in a sort oftheoretical latency – and try to focus on anddiscuss them. As this is not the place for such amassive task – for which I may not even havethe necessary competence – I shall restrictmyself to touching on just a few points thatconcern me more closely. I apologise for thisselective and thus not very systematicapproach, made necessary to some extent also bythe large numbers of theoretical and politicalquestions that Ferrajoli's essay tackles,raises or merely touches on. Nevertheless, myselection will be aided by the criticalsignificance that Ferrajoli dedicates to someof my opinions. In short, I shall not try to doany more than to respond indirectly to hiscriticisms. And I shall do so with the greatestof respect, as Ferrajoli well knows, for histheoretical work and for the profoundmotivations that inspire him.     

Frontline Safety: Understanding the Workplace as a Site of Regulatory Engagement

The concept of frontline safety encapsulates an approach to occupational health and safety that emphasizes the “other side of the regulatory relationship”—the ways in which safety culture, individual responsibility, organizational citizenship, trust, and compliance are interpreted and experienced at the local level. By exploring theoretical tensions concerning the most appropriate way of conceptualizing and framing frontline regulatory engagement, we can better identify the ways in which conceptions of individuals (as rational, responsible, economic actors) are constructed and maintained through workplace interactions and decision making as part of the fulfillment of the ideological and constitutive needs of neoliberal labor markets.     

A Commentary on the New Zealand Supreme Court Rules

This article critically assesses how some public law principles, including the doctrine of legitimate expectations, are applied in the Commonwealth Caribbean. It proceeds to discuss the impact of international law on public law and to note that, through the implementation of unincorporated treaties into domestic law, the principle of dualism is increasingly losing its significance and protective effect. The consequence of this is that Governments will continue to want more opt outs and will be more cautious about signing treaties which they are not ready to implement.     

民事检察的面相——一个研究性述评

作为一种国家干预,民事检察与法律监督有何关联,国家干预的正当性何在,干预到底限定在多大范围,这些问题无疑是民事检察的基础问题。回答这些问题既要面向我国现行法制,也要作返回原点式的考察,更需要结合民事检察改革进行必要的展望。     

A Leap to the Realm of Freedom : A Brief Essay on the Most Recent Period in the History of Contemporary Russian Journalism

"Speculation is one of the disgusting forms of parasitism," said Comrade L. F. Il'ichev at the June Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee.     

Law and Social Inquiry: Commentary on a Psychoanalytic Semiotics of Law

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique -     

The Word: An Essay on Seeing,Owning, and the Sacred

In the classical period of ancient Greece, Logos had a variety ofmeanings, most or all of which connoted one aspect or another ofHeraclitus's conception of the term, ``the rational governing principleof the universe'. The triadic semiotics of Charles Sanders Peircesuggests that, through the linguistic sign, humans construct structuresof meaning, which form the cognitive Worlds in which humans exist, thesubstantive content of consciousness, and which, as such, provide theexplanation for the Cosmos. The three-term Peircean Sign becomestriadic, however, only in conjunction with Peirce's Ground, whichprovides particular substantive values that form the basis ofconstructing the meaningful World. Thus, it is possible, for example, totrace in the heterogeneity of judicial doctrine in United States law thealternative sets of values that are available; the function ofWorld creation proceeds when the Ground is suffused with a particularvalue set. If Logos is conceptualized in terms of these value sets, thenit can be understood in terms of ``the rational governing principle ofthe World.' In this understanding, the substantive content of theGround becomes equated with the Sacred. This conceptualization alsoprovides an alternative way of understanding the opening of the Gospelof John in the Christian Bible and the concept of the Trinity inChristian doctrine in terms of the creative powers of humans through theSign. The fact of this same creative power also provides a way ofunderstanding the strong limitations in ancient Israel on pronouncingthe Tetragrammaton.