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34 Queen's L.J. 427 (2008-2009)
A Concept of Legal Tradition

handle is hein.journals/queen34 and id is 435 raw text is: A Concept of Legal Tradition* H. Patrick Glenn** Today's world necessitates expanding sources of law in order to accommodate a diversity of people, ideas and interactions. 7he author proposes legal tradition as a useful conceptual framework for this process. He conceives tradition as normative information that has been passed on over time through an iterative process of capture, application and recapture. This concept allows for legal traditions that contain more or less precise notions of what constitutes law. This leads to the recognition that considering normative claims, rather than applying rules of hierarchical dominance, is a more inclusive and just approach to law. 7he author advocates this conciliatory approach for resolving differences of law, both between state laws and between state law and non-state law such as aboriginal legal traditions. Such an approach does not see the world as a series of binary choices; rather, it relies on a multivalent logic that can deal with a continuum ofpossible issues and solutions. Introduction I. Tradition II. Legal Traditions III. Inclusiveness IV. Reconcilliation of Laws Conclusion Introduction The sources of law are currently expanding, as parties, courts and constitutions increasingly rely on sources beyond those of the state. Law is thus becoming more inclusive, while the theoretical construction of a (national) legal system is becoming less adequate as a descriptive or normative model. In its place we appear to need some other large organizing concept, which will allow us to conceptualize the many different types of law now being resorted to and their relations with one another. A concept of legal tradition may fulfill this role, in providing ** Peter M. Laing Professor of Law, Faculty of Law & Institute of Comparative Law, McGill University. H.P. Glenn

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