Historical School of Law: causes, representatives, main ideas

The second half of the XVIII - early XIX centuries. - this is the time when the most careful attention was paid to the problem of law, its appearance and development, its influence on the formation of man and on the history of individual states. Of particular importance in the unfolding heated controversy was the historic school of law, the most famous of which were German scholars G. Hugo, G. Puchta and K. Savigny.

Their work began with criticism, which was subjected to natural law concepts of the origin of law. G. Hugo and C. Savigny argued that there is no need to call for a radical change in existing order. In their opinion, for any person and society the normal state is stability, rather than constant experiments aimed at adopting more progressive laws that must radically change the nature of man.

The historical school of law was based on the proposition that this most important institution should in no case be viewed as imposed from above on the institutions that society must follow. Naturally, when the legal space is being formed, the state plays a certain role, but it is far from decisive in this matter. Legal norms as the main regulator of society's life arise unexpectedly, in their appearance it is very difficult to find any logical justification. The right arises spontaneously, through the constant interaction of people with each other, when some or other prohibitive or obligatory norms begin to bear a generally recognized character. In this case, the laws passed by the state are just the final act of giving legal force to legal norms.

The historical school of law, or rather its representatives, was among the first to raise the issue that the development of legal norms in society is objective, it does not depend on the desires of individual, even very influential people. At the same time, ordinary people are unable to influence this development, as all the changes accumulate extremely slowly. Hence the conclusion that was made by K. Savigny: the people have no right to violently change the existing order of things. He must try to adapt to existing conditions, even if they contradict his nature.

Another feature of this concept of the development of law was that German scientists for the first time tried to relate national characteristics and differences in the system of law. According to their concept, the law develops along with the development of the people themselves, moreover, the legal norms are affected by the peculiarities of one or another national spirit. Thus, the historical school of law wanted to show the inapplicability of arbitrary transfer of legal norms from one state to another. According to scientists, this borrowing can only create a new hotbed of tension in society.

The historical school of law, despite very serious criticism from contemporaries and representatives of subsequent generations, had a very significant influence on the development of social thought. In particular, Hegel's doctrine of law is largely based on his understanding of this institution as a constantly evolving phenomenon that has quite definite historical roots.