Santi Romano and the Concept of Legal Pluralism

The paper considers the significance of the work of the Italian lawyer Santi Romano «Law and Order» (1917–1918) for the formation and development of the concept of legal pluralism. The author’s conclusions related to the theory of multiple institutions--the rule of law in society--are analyzed. The paper reveals thecorrelation of S. Romano’s theses with the views of the representatives of the St. Petersburg school of Philosophy of law (S.I. Gessen, L.I. Petrazhitskiy, P.A. Sorokin, G.D. Gurvich), the views of L. Dugi, M. Oriu, O. Ehrlich, M. Weber. It is established that S. Romano can be considered a harbinger of modern studies of legal pluralism within the framework of legal anthropology, the direction of «law and globalization». His ideas also intersect with the concepts of «direct social law», «shadow law», highlighted in the Soviet and Russian theory of state and law. The author raises the question about the veracity of S. Romano’s certain statements about the concept of legal pluralism as a whole. It is noted that contrary to the opinion of the author of «Law and Order», not every organized social group has its own law, and the state can block the emergence of informal law, change the structure of society. It is argued that legal pluralism manifests itself not only in the multiplicity of legal systems (legal orders), but also in the reflection of the interests and values of different subjects within specific legal systems. At the same time, the very possibility of the emergence of informal law and the more general fact of the coexistence of various systems (subsystems) of law in modern society are confirmed.

It is concluded that the general significance of S. Romano’s work and other similar studies lies in attempts to theoretically substantiate the relationship between social pluralism, social competition on the one hand and legal pluralism on the other. Despite some shortcomings of these works and the need to clarify the understanding of legal pluralism, this relationship itself is indisputable, and the relevant research is important and relevant.

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