Living Law: Reconsidering Eugen Ehrlich

I wonder, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear someone say "legal philosophy"?

I suspect that some of you might find this topic to be too theoretical. Others might say that it's inaccessible; that the amount of legal jargon makes this topic either too boring or unclear.

And those of you who overcome these initial barriers might still find legal philosophy to be too foreign of a topic; for you might think that the way it's discussed is out of touch with the legal sensibilities of the Ethiopian people. 

But every so often you read about someone that’s neither too theoretical nor out of touch with our legal sensibilities. And Living Law: Reconsidering Eugen Ehrlich is a book about a legal philosopher that fits this description. 

Published in 2009, this book explores the life and contributions of Eugen Ehrlich, a man born to a culturally diverse community in southeastern Europe. Influenced by his community’s complex yet collective sense of justice, Ehrlich would go on to write a book about what he saw in his day-to-day life. i.e. that the law, more often than not, is found in the company of social norms. 

By focusing on how cultural values influence the law and what usually happens when the law goes against our deeply held convictions, Ehrlich was able to persuasively discuss the relationship between the law and the society that drafted it. 

And although a small fraction of Ehrlich’s writings has since been included into our National Law School Curriculum, little attention has been given to the strong link between our social norms, our state institutions and those who operate within them. 

But such an oversight does a great disservice to our country’s legal researchers and practitioners. For we’re not only missing out on a very interesting and important field of research. We’re also overlooking the history of our legal system as well as the current debates surrounding some of our laws: which point, without shame or subtlety, to an inconvenient truth. 

Namely, that our legal system is neither devoid of a cultural context nor has it ever been immune to the influences of our social psychology. 

In this respect, Living Law: Reconsidering Eugen Ehrlich does a great job in properly contextualizing Ehrlich’s philosophy. By bringing together scholars from various disciplines, this book gives readers a diverse, balanced and much needed introduction into the Sociology of Law and its founding father.

But what makes this book a must read for us Ethiopians is its ability to clearly investigate patterns that we so readily see in our beloved country. For some of us have come to the slow but steady realization that our failure to achieve social justice doesn’t solely lie in the lack of progressive/rights-based initiatives. 

That the responsibility for such failures also lie in those judges, parliamentarians, state officials and government employees that have been unable to unshackle themselves from the unquestioned authority of our cultural values. 

And if you ever need examples of implicit bias and the influence of social norms in our state institutions, be sure to read our Living Law pieces by clicking here.