The ‘Jurisprudence of Interests’ (Interessenjurisprudenz) from Germany: History, Accomplishments, Evaluation
International Journal of Law, Language and Discourse, Volume 3.1, June 2013, pp. 55-78
29 Pages Posted: 27 Feb 2012 Last revised: 4 Aug 2015
Date Written: February 26, 2012
Abstract
Interessenjurisprudenz from Germany belongs to an approach based on balance or proportionality (rationality of conflicting consideration), which is a dominant mode of legal reasoning of our time.
The major thinkers responsible for creating this approach were Oliver Wendell Holmes in the United States, René Demogue in France, and Philipp von Heck in Germany.
There were certain influences from the Continental Europe to the United States, influences that seem to have been forgotten today.
Although the technique of conflicting considerations has a rich European genealogy, it received its most elaborate form in the United States between 1940 and 1970. In the early fifties, the Constitutional Court of Germany and later the European Union Court of Justice or European Court of Human Rights, adopted the technique of proportionality as their usual technique.
The following considerations will put all that into a perspective focusing historical developments from Germany.
Keywords: Interessenjurisprudenz, Conflicting considerations, Interest, Begriffsjurisprudentz, School of Objective interpretation, Free Law School, Wertungsjurisprudentz
JEL Classification: K00, K40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation