The Positivistic and Non-Positivistic Conception of Law

Abstract

The paper is a comparative characterisation of the positivistic and non-positivistic conceptions of law. The reason why we need a closer analysis of these concepts is justified by the fact that they were used in the debate on the Polish Constitutional Tribunal.

The positivistic conception of law, despite different varieties of positivism, is fairly well-known in Poland. Now the non-positivistic conceptions appeared relatively recently. It is worth our attention, for it may become an alternative for the eternal conflict between the two opposing positions: legal positivism and iusnaturalism.