Jun 22, 2010
light:shadow
Typically, when re-presenting and interpreting ‘law’ we use ‘words’. And such has been the bias of the use of the technology of words in re-presenting and interpreting ‘law’ that the two seperate things often become inter-mingled in our minds. Example:
We talk about the letter of the law. But, in situations, where this phrase is deemed appropriate close scrutiny reveals that what we really mean is the law of the letter.
I’d like to imagine a universe where instead of ‘words’, ‘law’ is re-presented and interpreted using ‘light’ and ’shadow’.
In the opening chapter of ‘The Concept of Law’ (1961) “persistent questions” and “perplexities” at the heart of legal theory are outlined, and H. L. A. Hart (regarding the difficulty which judges and legislators face in interpreting and ascribing ‘law’) enigmatically states:
all rules have a penumbra of uncertainty
Hart’s allusion to the medium of ‘light’, and the boundary between light and shadow, to describe the edge/perimeter/boundary of ‘law’ not only makes for an elegant metaphor, but also points to a greater bandwidth of media – not merely words – which could be instrumentalised for legal communication.
