Time and Dynamics of Legal Systems

A Brief Review of Three Milestones of the Theoretical Reconstruction

Abstract

A central feature of modern law is its dynamic nature, that is to say, even though its contents varies from introducing acts to removing of regulations throughout time, its identity remains unalterable. At the legal theory level, this feature has pro- voked a great number of debates on how to develop the reconstruction respecting the notion of the unity, change and identity. Although in each explanation, the no- tion of the system plays a central role. In this sense, within the theory of law in the recently 100 years, three proposal have set milestones in the manner in which the dynamic nature of the legal systems is rebuilt. These are the works of Adolf Merkl, Joseph Raz and, since some decades ago, the proposals about the revision of the beliefs on the sets of beliefs. Thus, this paper aims to conduct a schematic review of these milestones, focusing on how to explain the dynamic nature of law, and then obtain some conclusions regarding the notions of unity, change and time along with specifying some of the relations among each other.