Interdisciplinary Legal Studies

Interdisciplinary Legal Studies

Rethinking the Concept of Soft Law: Passing from Norm’s Frames to Norm’s Effects in International Law

Document Type : Original Article

Author
PhD of Public International Law, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Tehran Central Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
 Background
In the traditional approach, the relation of the subjects of law is either lawful or unlawful. In light of this approach mathematical logic governs the field of law. As a result, the norms governing the relations of the subjects either comes from the field of law or from outside this field.
Materials and Methods
This is a theorical inquiry and its methods are descriptive-analytical and the gathering of data is done by the library method and referring to documents, book and articles.
Ethical Considerations
In all steps of writing this inquiry, while observing the authenticity of the texts, honesty and fidelity have been observed.
Findings
By passing of time and postmodernism prevailing on the relations of the subjects of law, the traditional approach faces fundamental challenges, because in postmodernism, fuzzy logic is governing. This caused the raising of the following problem amongst jurists: it is possible that the behavior of the subjects of law influenced by postmodernism and fuzzy logic is contained in a spectrum of different modes and the gap between the lawful and the unlawful is filled with the concept of soft law.
Conclusion
In the field of law, norms are of two elements, binding and adherence. The norms of soft law, while are not binding for the subjects of law, they are obeyed for many different reasons. In simpler terms, while not having a binding framework, the effects of legal norms, i.e. their adherence regulates the relations of the subjects of law.
Keywords

  • Receive Date 21 October 2024
  • Revise Date 28 November 2024
  • Accept Date 15 December 2024
  • First Publish Date 15 December 2024
  • Publish Date 01 January 2025