1 - The Puzzle of Very Unjust Law I

Summary

In the short chapter ‘Law’ in Justice for Hedgehogs, Ronald Dworkin said that ‘the puzzle of evil law’ has had a ‘prominent place in seminars on legal theory’ although it is of ‘almost no practical importance’.¹ The puzzle, in his view, is primarily about cases where judges find themselves faced with the problem of enforcing an evil law. Should we say that the judges must not enforce it because it is very unjust, or that they must not enforce it because it is not law? Since philosophers of law agree on the practical outcome – judges must not enforce evil law – Dworkin claimed that the ‘ancient jurisprudential problem is sadly close to a verbal dispute’.²