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Copyright of Direito e Práxis is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Despite many doubts and criticisms, the use and popularity of the term legal culture have been growing steadily since 1969, when Lawrence Friedman first coined it. Regardless of the difficulties in conceptualising and operationalising legal culture, it is widely used in research and theoretical work. This paper investigates how researchers are overcoming conceptual issues, as well as the similarities and differences in approaches to legal culture and their effects on the comprehensibility and coherence of the concept. Through a systematic literature review of scholarly papers published in two citation bibliographic databases – Web of Science and Scopus – that contain the term legal culture in the title, this paper identifies definitions of legal culture, theoretical assumptions, research methods and specific topics depicted within the field of legal culture. The analysis indicates heterogeneous approaches to legal culture, accompanied by inconsistency in understanding and applying the concept. The notion of legal culture is related to various topics but mainly used as an intervening variable; without empirical research, authors use the term as hypothetical and self-evident, assuming its impact on law and society. Besides, the analysis identified various forms of defining and explaining the legal culture and different methodologies, amongst which a descriptive approach prevails. Based on the insight into scholarly articles on legal culture, the review concludes with suggestions for improving future research and the explanatory power of legal culture.

In contemporary research, Nordic countries are considered to have comparatively lenient penal policies, such as the restricted use of imprisonment. However, criminal justice in Finland during the early decades of its independence was exceptionally harsh. Due to its history, Finland is considered a difficult case for institutionalist theories that have related the Nordic welfare state model with lenient penal policy. This analysis argues that Finland's development away from this severity was, in fact, caused by the shift of its social policy toward that of a (Nordic) welfare state in the 1940s, which is associated with the adoption of the model of democratic corporatism after decades of intense political conflict. The 1940s were a turning point when regulation of prison population sizes started to become an objective in legislation concerning the penal system. Meanwhile, independent of legislation, judges' attitudes and sentencing practices began to relax. A generational replacement began among the criminal justice elite that manifested as generational disagreement in the 1950s, and by the 1970s, a reformist consensus was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociología Histórica is the property of Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The right to manifest religion or belief in community with others is one of the essential components of religious freedom. However, it has been significantly curtailed in many countries owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. This article identifies the scope of the introduced restrictions, their proportionality, and their impact on the functioning of religious communities. Section 1 sets out three different approaches to participation in public religious practices in selected countries with severe (Germany), moderate (Poland), and liberal (Belarus) restrictions. In section 2, an international perspective on access to religious buildings in times of emergency is presented. The conclusions of this research are juxtaposed in section 3 with the jurisprudence of the highest national courts in Germany, the United States, and France, in order to highlight proportional legal solutions for the protection of religious freedom and public health. In the last section, the consequences of the introduced restrictions are analysed from the perspective of religious associations, using the example of Poland. Lastly, predictions concerning future participation in religious services are also made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Teoría & Derecho. Revista de Pensamiento Jurídico is the property of Editorial Tirant Lo Blanch SL and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Plural - Revista de Ciências Sociais is the property of Revista Plural and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It’s commonly believed that the book “Fundamental Principles of the Sociology of Law” (1913) of Eugen Erlich (1862–1922) was historically the first work in which was made an attempt to create a sociology of law as a specific scientific discipline. However the translation and publication of this work in Russian (2011) was insignificant to the sociological community, while in the English-language literature of the last decades we can observe a growing interest to the classic. The author of the article tries to emphasize the main points and advantages of the theory of the “living law” of Ehrlich, showing how the “Fundamental principles...” may be interesting for the modern reader. For this, the author of the article offers a specific strategy for reading the book.

This study aims the analysis of the social trajectory of eight judges of two judicial authorities. In order to do so, we concentrated ourselves on three main analytical dimensions: a) firstly, we addressed their social origin through the familial milieu; b) we then investigated their narratives on the civil service examination and professional expectations; c) we finally analyzed their stances on national politics and current public policies. Taking into account quantitative data and also our qualitative research, it was observed that there is a correspondence between both analytical levels which leads to the perception that judges are mainly recruited in the middle and upper middle classes. Taking them as observers of national politics and public policies, we do not intend to reconstruct the political “mentality” of the judges, but to indicate a persisting pattern in their discourses and standpoints. Lastly, in relation politics and public policies, we argue that interviewed judges are oriented by a savant common sense which is rarely capable of self observation.

Copyright of Direito e Práxis is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revija za Sociologiju is the property of Revija za Sociologiju and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Commons studies have emphasized the importance of customary rights and informal institutions, arguing that if there is a gap between formal ownership titles and customary rights, then the latter must be respected. However, as customary practices weaken, the influence of state legal systems and registered titles becomes stronger. When the commons is registered under multiple co-owners’ names, the commoners come to believe that they hold a normal common property and keep these rights even after they leave the village. This phenomenon, called legalization, leads to the tragedy of the anticommons because the number of rights holders outside the village increases. This paper explains the underuse of Japanese common property forests due to this legalization, especially in terms of two points derived from microdata analysis of the 2000 census. First, in the case of multiple co-owners, the number of ex-villagers who keep their rights is very high. Second, when ex-villagers keep their rights and the registered name includes multiple coowners, forestry activities are most infrequent. This paper names this situation “Bundle of Rights Reversed,” in which those outside the community have strong rights to prevent change in forest use, and propose the application of a different legal rule. This framework would be useful for a comparative study on the formalization of commons tenure rights.

The emergence and consolidation of European Community law (later European Union law) was rendered possible by key legal and political actors drawing a map of supranational law with the key concepts of direct effect, primacy and uniformity. The underlying assumption was that the actual territory of the law, the law on the ground, would come to fit into the drawn map. However, the last two decades have seen trust on the transformative power of the map drawn through such concepts decline, not least due to related developments. First, what looked like residual points of resistance have become polarized sources of contention over the scope and meaning of EU law; (2) sheer indifference towards EU law has emerged as a relevant attitude, partially replacing acceptance or opposition. Both developments have not led not only to a crisis of European law, but also to an existential crisis of the very actors (the “cartographers”) in charge of drawing the map of European law.

Critical legal studies have developed since the late 1970 s in several countries. All of them put at the center the question of legal education, considering its contribution to the ideological and social status quo. This heritage is precious to understand how the debate about legal education evolved, and to consider empirically – as in the research project Elidroit – the place of law in the formation and reproduction of elites from a sociological standpoint.

This paper aims to analyse legal recognition of polyamorous relationships and to examine the main obstacles to its feasibility in the short run. Preliminarily, I shall make a few notes on the state of the art in the matter of polyamory, discuss relevant terminology issues, and enumerate some of the main features of polyamorous relationships with a view to framing the debate on their legal recognition. Polyamorous relationships are then contextualized in the light of the radical changes which the traditional family has undergone since the second half of the 20th century. It is my claim that polyamorous relationships can be considered only the latest stage in that process of transformation, and that they will enjoy legal recognition at a sooner or later date. However, I shall acknowledge that this will probably not occur in the short term, and I shall analyse the main reasons why. My concluding argument is, nevertheless, that legal recognition of such relationships may be hailed as desirable.

In Poland and Germany have already lived about 3 million Ukrainians. Polish and German lawyers note that such a large number of immigrants may constitute a substantial market for their legal services. Therefore, they more and more often provide specific legal services to Ukrainians. The basic characteristics of the market of legal services provided to Ukrainians in Poland and the explanation of the functioning mechanisms of the Ukrainian legal services market in Poland and the EU are important elements of the study. During the study, we check the research hypothesis: immigrants from Ukraine to the European Union have co-created a new EU market for legal services. The study was conducted using the method of structured interview among Polish advocates and legal advisers and using the method of content analysis and statistical analysis. The survey results show that in Poland and in Germany there is the Ukrainian legal services market. Polish and German lawyers do not specialize in Ukrainian matters. Special legal services close to Ukrainians are not being developed. However, there is an increased volume of Ukrainian clients in Poland and minor modifications in the manner, number and method of providing services by lawyers. The first experiences of lawyers from cooperation with Ukrainians show that within 10 years, legal services for Ukrainians in Poland and Germany will become one of the most lucrative advocate specializations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Colombiana de Sociologia is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Sociologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

On September 6, 2018, homosexuality was decriminalized in India. It was the result of a rights mobilization that started almost two decades ago. From the start, Indian lesbian, gay, bi, trans (LGBT) activists tried to influence society and the judges directly, not least through contact with other judges who happened to be gay. This article is a first attempt at understanding the mobilization and decriminalization in light of contact. It is also a first attempt at combining contact theories from both gestalt and the social sciences, including Allport's (1954) contact hypothesis. It seems quite plausible that contact of a certain kind played an important role in the Indian case. Other social movements could learn from this case. Gestaltists, as contact artists could have much to contribute, especially if they also draw upon social sciences and recognize that status, social identity, and power play a role in contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El presente número de Oñati Socio-legal Series es el resultado de las discusiones y los encuentros llevados a cabo en el marco del workshop titulado La sociología jurídica en América Latina y el Caribe: debates actuales y perspectivas futuras. En vista del crecimiento y la riqueza del conocimiento socio-jurídico en la región y las potencialidades que emergen de las realidades del sur global, consideramos necesario adelantar preguntas sobre el estado de arte de la sociología jurídica y las expectativas hacia el futuro. Esperamos que la agenda de trabajo que se desenvuelve en la presente contribución abone a una sociología jurídica crítica, que consolide el campo no solamente en el rigor académico que muestre la potencia de las apuestas interdisciplinarias; sino también en el compromiso social que aporte a la transformación de las sociedades latinoamericanas. This issue of Oñati Socio-legal Series is the result of the discussions and encounters from the workshop Sociology of law in Latin America and the Caribbean: current debates and future perspective. In view of the growth and potential that emerges from the global south realities, we believe it necessary to put forward questions over sociology of law’s state of the art and its expectations for the future in Latin America. We hope that the work agenda that unveils in this issue contributes to a critical sociology of law. This entails not only bringing out the academic rigour of interdisciplinary approaches; but also a social commitment with the transformation of Latin-American societies. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=3267838

El presente artículo sostiene que es posible pensar al Instituto Internacional de Sociología Jurídica de Oñati (IISJ) como centro a partir del cual se puede proyectar la mirada sobre los estudios de sociología jurídica respecto de la región de América Latina, mediante la construcción de un universo epistémico como estrategia metodológica para dar cuenta de las temáticas más relevantes en el desarrollo de este campo. Si bien la discusión aborda solamente la producción académica de una institución, se inserta a su vez en el panorama más amplio de la sociología jurídica de la región. Es un estado del arte acotado que se enfoca en el análisis de las principales temáticas del universo epistémico generado: criminología, administración de justicia, participación política, perspectivas teóricas, pluralismo y pueblos indígenas, economía, género, urbanismo y profesión jurídica. This article claims that it is possible to think the Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law (IISL) as a center point from which to project a perspective on the sociology of law studies regarding Latin America, through the construction of an epistemic universe as methodological strategy to account for the most relevant topics in the development of this field. Although the discussion can only address the work on Latin America produced by a single institution, it is also embedded in the wider field of sociology of law in the region. It is a bounded state of the art that focusses in the analysis of the main thematic of the epistemic universe: criminology, justice administration, political participation, theoretical perspectives, pluralism and indigenous peoples, economics, gender, urbanism and the legal profession. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=3124993

The article examines the main geopolitical factors that determine the place of the state in the community of nations: the size of its territory, the density of the population, the rationality of its productive force’s location. Attention is paid to the identification of those reserves, the use of which will make it possible to carry out the breakthrough tasks defined by the May Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin “On National Purposes and Strategic Development Challenges of the Russian Federation until 2024” (No. 204, May 2018). To solve research problems the author uses methods of legal cooperativities, sociological comprehension of the qualitative and quantitative state of population, and analyzes the legal basis on which the mechanism of lawmaking activity and law enforcement practice are developed.

Partiendo de un trabajo de campo etnográfico dedicado a la realidad de la comunidad afro-ecuatoriana La Chiquita, especialmente respecto a su lucha por el territorio ancestral a que tienen derecho, frente a la desterritorialización promovida por el avance del monocultivo de palma aceitera, nos proponemos: I) comprender la dimensión de la colonialidad del Estado al interior de este conflicto, incluyendo el ethos disciplinar e Institucional que interpreta la negritud; y II) identificar y analizar las diversas formas de resistencia de esta comunidad en respuesta a esa estructura sociopolítica vertical, incorporando al análisis las narrativas de su contexto desde una crítica centrada en la epistemología y en la socio-antropología jurídica. Departing from an ethnographic fieldwork dedicated to the reality of the Afro-Ecuadorian community of La Chiquita, in particular on its struggle concerning the integrity of the ancestral territory in response of a growing dispossession process orchestrated by oil palm monocultures in Ecuador, we propose: (I) an overview to comprehend the coloniality of the State within this conflict, including the disciplinary and Institutional ethos in interpreting blackness; and (II) identify and analyze the various forms of resistance of this community in response to such vertical sociopolitical structure, exposing their narratives in such a context from a criticism focused on epistemology and the sociology of law. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=3133055

The article considers the current discussion on the possibilities and limitations of different theoretical-methodological approaches to the study of the representation of expert knowledge in court proceedings, and on the peculiarities of interaction of forensic experts and jurists. The author emphasizes contribution and methodological limitations of the interpretative traditions and focuses on the potential of the actor-network theory for the study of interaction of forensic experts and jurists, such as implementation of Bruno Latour’s principle of “generalized symmetry” and the concept “juridical chain” for the analysis of the legal sphere. The author believes that Latour’s exclusive attention to the “specific rationality” of judicial practice prevented him from revealing complex trajectories of networks both within and outside the particular legal institution that he studied. The article claims that representatives of science and technology studies contribute to de-legitimization of the results of scientific research represented in forensic expert reports for this approach ignores the asymmetry of power relations between experts and jurists. Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of the juridical field allows to overcome the one-sidedness of the actor-network theory for it considers the inner logic of the juridical field development, reveals the asymmetry of power relations within it, competition between bearers of different forms of juridical capital with specific interests and resources, and the influence of other fields on the juridical field. The author believes that the most promising perspective is the combination of actor-network theory, its interpretations in science and technology studies and Bourdieu’s theory of the juridical field, which would allow to analyze not only the inner logic of circulation of expert knowledge but also the external context of its production and transformations within the juridical field.

The role and place of Georges Guerwich in the foundation of a sociological school at the University of Dnipro. It was found out that at the beginning of his academic career, Georges Guerwich, a coryphae of the Paris School of Sociology, worked for some time at the University of Katerynoslav, thus having laid, at least implicitly, the seeds of sociological education in the Pridneprovsky region. The course of events preceding the opening of the classical university in Katerynoslav is described. It is also noted that when opening the Faculty of Law of the named above, special attention was paid to ensuring the sociological component of the training of future lawyers. Relying on the experience of Western European and especially American universities, it was proposed at the opening of the Faculty of Law in Katerynoslav to establish a department of sociology. For this mission to the University of Katerynoslav, a talented graduate of the Petrograd University George George Gurvich was invited, who is a pupil of intellectual leaders of the Russian law school L. Petrazhitsky, P. Novgorodtsev, F. Taranovsky. While working at the Department of Encyclopedia, History of Philosophy of Law, he laid the foundations of sociological culture at this institution of higher education. It is proved that his general sociological views have a phenomenological basis. G. Gurvich determined that the object of sociology is sui generis phenomena, which are neither reduced to physical nor chemical, biological or psychological phenomena, and the explanation of their main attributes is the main task of sociology. In this case, the main attributes of social phenomena may be in agreement or in conflict. Characterized by the sociological views of Georges Gurvich, it was noted that his sociology is distinguished by the principal attention to theoretical and methodological issues, the phenomenological angle of considering social problems, the elucidation of the historical and genetic foundations of social processes. It was emphasized that it is precisely this focus of the problem’s consideration that is inherent in a sociological school formed at the Dnipro University. Georges Guerwich’s intellectual heritage, academic and scientific-organizational activities are of great importance for the development of world sociology. He co-operated with P. Sorokin, N. Timashev, F. Stepun, P. Struve, and maintained friendly relations with L. Brunswick, L. Lévy-Bruhl, M. Mouss, M. Halbwachs, T. Parsons, R. Merton and others luminaries of modern sociological science. His lectures were attended by J.-P. Sartre and J. Lacan.

Copyright of Direito e Práxis is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Education & Law Review / Revista de Educación y Derecho is the property of Revista de Educacion y Derecho and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Despite their specificities, legal stakeholders don’t escape to the contemporary changes in the world of work. They are facing the intensification of their activity, are involved in social struggles, while the “glass ceiling” is still blocking women’s access to certain functions. Such developments in the worlds of law and justice plead to offer some elements of a sociology of work for these professionals. This requires breaking down the barriers of the fields of sociology, like the American approaches which have analyzed the work of jurists. In doing so, the following introduction presents the different articles of the Corpus from two perspectives: that of the traditional legal professions and that of the jurists of large organizations.

Before the passage of the US Immigration Act of 1924, governments of migrant-receiving countries decided whether to admit most prospective immigrants only after they arrived at the border; afterward, the United States and then later other migrant-receiving states required prospective migrants and visitors to apply for visas in their country of residence before coming—an institution that Zolberg has termed "remote control." Previous scholars wrote about remote control in terms of how it increased the capacity of states to reduce immigration, protect their societies from external threats, and maintain sovereignty, but did not analyze in detail how it did so. Here I analyze three ways through which remote control was a model for a more general revolution in migration control that simultaneously reduced interactions between inhabitants in migrant-receiving societies and those in migrant-sending societies, slowed down the historical reduction of inequality between migrant-sending and migrant-receiving societies, and reduced research and critical awareness within migrant-receiving societies about remote control's structural impact on societies in general. First, this institution brought more order and precision to the process of individually evaluating prospective visitors. Second, it enabled states to select and define authorized migrants according to their migratory purpose and to force other migrants either to demonstrate enough stamina and strength to enter unauthorized or to die trying. Third, by moving the migrant selection process to migrant-sending societies remote control reduced contact between residents in migrant-receiving societies and prospective migrants in migrant-sending societies. In these three ways, remote control has more generally constrained migratory opportunities and global mobility of individuals between distinct societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Godišnjak Pravnog Fakulteta u Sarajevu is the property of Godisnjak Pravnog Fakulteta u Sarajevu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Direito e Práxis is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sosyologca is the property of Sosyologca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Societas / Communitas is the property of University of Warsaw and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Anales de la Cátedra Francisco Suárez is the property of Anales de la Catedra Francisco Suarez and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article argues that cultural values can act as dominant norms and subvert the state's official law in the awarding of post-disaster shelters to Typhoon Ondoy (Tropical Storm Ketsana) victims in a housing project in the Philippines. Applying some tenets of legal pluralism and some qualitative data from a case study, this article aims to show how the key Filipino cultural values of "palakasan," "sakop," and "padrino system" acted as the key unofficial laws or informal norms in the government's post-disaster housing project for Typhoon Ondoy victims, thereby sidestepping the official legal provisions on the awarding of housing units to disaster victims. Specifically, it describes how these cultural values undermined the implementation of the official law on the qualification of applicants and proper awarding of housing units to beneficiaries under the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010 and the Urban Housing and Development Act of 1992 in Southville 8 Housing Project (S8HP), a governmental post-disaster housing project in Rodriguez, Rizal. In a highly politicized environment with plurality of stakeholders and norms in S8HP, the official state regulations became colonized by some powerful groups' dominant cultural values that acted as "unofficial laws" in the distribution of the housing units as shown by this study, resulting in the awarding of shelters to disqualified beneficiaries, forfeiting the intended effects of the state law. Ultimately, it argues that the law is not what the official state law says "it is' but what powerful individuals and groups say "it is" in actual social practice. It debunks the belief of legal formalists who advocate legal positivism and centralism, claiming that the law can deliver what it promises under the "rule of law" principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]