Made by Them, Followed by Us: Challenging the Perception of Law through the Deconstruction of Jurisprudential Assumptions
Abstract
The standard position within western thought is that the bulk of domestic law derives from, and is legitimised by, the local populous. Through the institution of democratic representation, it is rationalised that the resulting law produced reflects the social consciousness of the population at the time. While there are a number of limitations to this argument, this paper focuses on the juxtaposition of this stance with the public perception that law is inaccessible, complicated, and prestigious. By looking at the ways in which jurisprudential assumptions contribute to this dissonance between law and the public and exploring what accessibility to the law means, this paper argues that law must acknowledge and incorporate different perceptions — that, at its core, access to law is about being able to engage in a conversation.
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