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12 Ualtorutla / Kro)

the system, i.e. they dehve from the law ilsdf. Regulativc preccdcnts, on the other hand. always have thcir origw m the propcrtics of language. i*, they cxisl at the lcvcl of language. not legał institutions.

3.4. Normalne basis of adjudicatioo (legał noriu)

Lega! theory has proposed two useful conccpts in terms of which it is possiblc to show the relationshsp betwccn jud-.aal dccisions and generał legał rules that lic at the basis of that dccision They arc the normativc basis for a judgemen; and legał norm. The fonner, employed mainly in the contcxl of the prccedcnt system, refers above dl to ralio dccidcndi. the latter - being part of the statutory system - makes it possiblc to distinguish betwccn legał regulatioos (prcscriptions), exprcssed in legał language and legał nonns, cxprcsscd in jurisuc language. A rcconstructcd normauvc basis Ocgał norm) is the source of a judicial dccision.

Most gencrally speaking, the idea of law roąuires that regardless of the typc of legał system - cvery judicial dccision fmd its normativc basis in the existing laws. This noimativc basis is a set of rules which. taken together fully and adcquate!y justify the court dccision in terms of its substaoce as wdl as the requiremcnts of the legał proces*. In other words it involves compctence and proccdurd rules as well as generał rules of court pro cccdings. which define admissibłe norm* of conduct. We fmd it explicitly exprcssed in the statements justifying court decisions.

Formally, in the prcccdent system the normauvc basis is rcconstructcd from preccdcnts which the court rccognises as binding in the form of raiio decidendi; in the statutory system it is rcconstructcd from cxisting laws in the form of legat norms inferred from legał regulations and madę unambiguous. The concept of the normative basis for adjudicalion, similarly as that of the legał norm, makes it elear that in adjudicatory practicc a judge makes attempt to link his or ber dccision to generał rulc dcrived from preoedent or statutory law. From that point of vicw systeros of laws appear to be similar. Morcovcr, in rcconstructing a legał norm, the courts often takc inlo account prccedcnt arguroents, abovc all those related to rcgulative proccderni.'¹

4. Sourccs of law

From the point of vicw of the sources of law two model typcs of legał system arc distinguished, vir. prcccdent and statutory. The advantagcs and disadvantages of both arc wcll known but it would bc difficult within legał

" Sec L. Leszczyński, op cH.. p 30}; I. Wróblewski, thcory to tell which is superior they arc both wcii grounded 10 history and tradilion. Yet - rdative to the timc and place of its applicability - eilher may be cvaluatcd from the point of view of its adcquacy to the rcquircmcnts it was ntcanl to meet. Possibly, at some futurc point, a mixcd system will dcvclop, combining the merits of both. It is hest if legał institutions comc into being naturally and spontancously as need for then arises What is important from the point of vicw of society is that laws be applied in kecping with the standards adopted.

S. ligał culture

Thcrc are fundamental diflcrcnccs between legał systems duc, among others, to their dilfcrcnt sources. The qucstion is whether, and how. this affccts legał culture and legał comtnunicaiion. Legał culture compriscs the cnlire set of idcals and values attribuicd to law and related to the legał order. It also indudes the ideology bchind the judicial apphcation of law as weU as the pnncipłes and cthical nomu of the legał profession. Legał culture shapcs the knowledgc and skills of legał profcssionals, the understanding of legał phcnomcaa and of cxisting legał regulations. methods and tcchnupjcs of legał analysis, legał systems and legał interpretation. and influence* the aoccpted infcrcntial rules. Recognilion of the relevance of all of thcsc componcnts of legał culture and of the skills rcquired for escrasmg and cultivating them led to the cmcrgcnce of a separate legał profession. This profession camc into existcnce carly on in the history of legał thinking and legał institutions and has developed indcpcndcntly of the prcvailing typc of legał system. For all the differenccs between legał systems. law profcssionals sharc a univcrsal legał culture superimposed on regional or systemie culture*. and grounded in univcrsal ideas and assumptions about law and legał order. Tbcsc indude, among others, myths related to law. which are in no way rcflcctcd in sociai or legał rcality, and which are also universal.'’ Taken together. all thcsc clcmcnts make possiblc unimpeded commumcation in the lawycrs' univcrsc.“ The possibiiity of commumcation and coopcration w-.thin legał culture is well illusiraied within comparative legaj studies; legał discoursc forms a platform of understanding, defines the terms of the debate. and identifies the loei communae independent of the legał system.

“ On legał tnythi >« 1 Jabłońska Bono, Prawo w fcregu mitów (Law and mythl. OdUtok 1995.

^M SceMZirk-Sadowtki. “Kultura i rnczymstott prawna'' (Culture ani lcg.il rcality], u» Przystąpienie czy integracja* Polska droga do UnU Europejskiej [Acccłuon or micgralicłi? The Potiih road to the Puropcan Union], War Kawa 1998, pp 195-23*; nlto M. Zirk-Sadowtki, Prawo a ucuuniczrnU w kultur:* [Law and partjopaUon in cullure), Lódi 199*. p. tatf