Hans Kelsen’s Critique of Sovereignty

• Da-Silveira-Souza, Rubin-Assis ^[1]
  1. [1] Law School of São Paulo (FGV/SP), São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
• Localización: Persona y derecho: Revista de fundamentación de las Instituciones Jurídicas y de Derechos Humanos, ISSN 0211-4526, Nº. 93, 2025 (Ejemplar dedicado a: The Problem of the Material Legitimacy of Law), págs. 215-239
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.15581/011.93.011
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen
  • español

    Este articulo reconstruye la critica de Hans Kelsen a la soberania, argumentando desde la Teoria Pura del Derecho que el concepto es contradictorio e irrelevante. Primero, expone la paradoja de un soberano situado por encima del ordenamiento juridico. A continuacion, refuta el dualismo entre derecho nacional e internacional por insostenible. Finalmente, el texto demuestra que la eleccion de primacia en un sistema monista (nacional o internacional) no altera el contenido de las normas, lo que convierte a la soberania en una nocion teoricamente irrelevante para la ciencia juridica.

  • English

    This article reconstructs Hans Kelsen’s critique of sovereignty, arguing that his Pure Theory of Law demonstrates the concept is both inherently contradictory and normatively irrelevant. Kelsen’s critique first exposes the logical paradox of positing any sovereign entity above the law. Second, it refutes the dualist separation of national and international law as equally contradictory. Ultimately, the article shows that even within a coherent monist model, the choice of primacy (national or international) does not alter the substance of legal norms, rendering the concept of sovereignty theoretically irrelevant for jurisprudence.

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