Pseudolaw presents false or distorted, but superficially plausible claims about legal doctrine. It is a dangerous and costly social phenomenon, with the potential to undermine social cohesion and the rule of law. Pseudolaw is dangerous, in part, because it is easily confused with two other phenomena that play important and legitimate, albeit widely overlooked, roles in legal processes: namely, folk law and natural law. This paper explicates the concepts of folk law and natural law, including their relationship to positive law and their place in legal decision-making. It distinguishes these concepts from pseudolaw, while also explaining why they tend to be conflated with it. I argue that folk law and natural law, properly understood, are crucial components of social cohesion and the rule of law; pseudolaw is harmful partly because it obscures and distorts the proper task of these notions in supplementing positive legal enactments. You are invited to attend this Faculty of Law Twilight Seminar with Professor Jonathan Crowe.
Biography:
Professor Crowe is Head of School and Dean of the School of Law and Justice at the University of Southern Queensland. He previously taught at Bond University, where he is an Honorary Adjunct Professor, and the University of Queensland, and has held visiting positions at Georgetown University and the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author or editor of eleven books and well over 100 book chapters and journal articles. His books include Australian Constitutional Law: Principles in Movement (Oxford University Press, 2022), Mediation Ethics: From Theory to Practice (Edward Elgar, 2020, co-authored with Rachael Field), Natural Law and the Nature of Law (Cambridge University Press, 2019) and the Research Handbook on Natural Law Theory (Edward Elgar, 2019, co-edited with Constance Youngwon Lee). He co-edits the Journal of Legal Philosophy with Raff Donelson and Hillary Nye.
The seminar will commence at 5.30pm in Room 04_3_37 with light refreshments being offered from 5pm.
Please register your attendance by 5pm Monday, 18 March 2024.