Herbert Hart’s Doctrine of Indeterminacy in Law (1949–1961): Main Stages of Development
Sergei Nikolaevich Kasatkin
Abstract
This article challenges a traditional account of a British philosopher and jurist H.L.A. Hart’s doctrine of indeterminacy in law, according to which this doctrine is associated with the ideas of “open texture” of legal terms / rules and problems of judicial decision and discretion, expressed in The Concept of Law treatise (1961) and, partly, in the essay Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals (1958). The article reconstructs development of Hart’s corresponding views and distinguishes three main stages of this development associated with the author’s 1949, 1953–1957, and 1958–1961 texts. In these texts problems of indeterminacy appear in different contexts, forms, roles, and so on, irreducible to the ideas of “open texture”. As a result the article substantiates conclusions about an earlier dating of Hart’s doctrine, its broader content, complex structure, diversity of terminology, etc., that helps to provide its more balanced assessment and use.