Practice question · True or false
Austin's command theory cannot account for rules that confer powers, such as those governing how to make a valid will.
Hints
- Ask what happens to someone who ignores the formalities for a will.
- Nothing is inflicted; the will simply is not one.
Show the answer
True
Why
True, and this is Hart's most economical objection. Ignore the rules on wills and no sanction follows, you have simply failed to produce a will. A model built on orders backed by threats has to describe these rules as fragments of other rules, which is a rescue rather than an explanation.
Practise Law, Morality, Custom and Force
The app has 5 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Law I is free to start.
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