Conform Interpretation as a Method for Balancing Autonomy and Heteronomy: Introduction

• Main Author: Joxerramon Bengoetxea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2011-12-01
• Series: Oñati Socio-Legal Series
• Subjects: Conform interpretation; objective interpretation; textualism; autonomy of the judiciary; legal interpretation; supreme courts; constitutional courts
• Online Access: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1991701

<p>Conform interpretation is seen as a method to find compatibility between legal norms belonging to different, but coordinated systems or to find coherence within the system. In either case conform interpretation implies a shared interpretative culture and has important consequences for legal theory – including the theories of legal culture - and legal practice from a dogmatic perspective but also from a procedural and sociological perspective (sociology of the legal professions). It also has important political implications regarding autonomy and the separation of powers and the role of constitutional courts in a context of constitutional pluralism. The issue of conform interpretation is here addressed from a historical-cultural as well as philosophical-comparative perspective.</p>