Legal pluralism

Legal pluralism is the existence of multiple legal systems within one society and/or geographical area.

The notion of "parallel sovereignty" between premodern States and the Catholic Church was an accepted situation in medieval and early modern Europe to such an extent that it was considered as the DNA of the occidental society. Even if this authorities were often in conflicts, Church and State were habitually supportive for each other et it's possible to called it a "legal collaborative pluralism".

The theologians and jurists of the School of Salamanca like Domingo de Soto and Tomás de Mercado stimulated thus the interplay between canon and civil laws. The latest considered for example the confessor, judge of the conscience, as a veritable agent for the application of civil law.

Plural legal systems are particularly prevalent in former colonies, where the law of a former colonial authority may exist alongside more traditional legal systems (customary law). In postcolonial societies a recognition of pluralism may be viewed as a roadblock to nation-building and development. Anthropologists view legal pluralism in the light of historical struggles over sovereignty, nationhood and legitimacy.

When the systems developed, the idea was that certain issues (such as commercial transactions) would be covered by colonial law, and other issues (family and marriage) would be covered by traditional law. Over time, those distinctions tended to break down, and individuals would choose to bring their legal claims under the system that they thought would offer them the best advantage.

Legal pluralism also occurs when different laws govern different groups within a country. For example, in India and Tanzania, there are special Islamic courts that address concerns in Muslim communities by following Islamic law principles. Secular courts deal with the issues of other communities.

Since modern Western legal systems can also be pluralistic, it is misleading to discuss legal pluralism only in relation to non-Western legal systems. Legal pluralism may even be found in settings that might initially appear legally homogenous. For example, there are dual ideologies of law within courthouses in the US, as the formal ideology of law as it is written exists alongside the informal ideology of law as it is used. The discussion on the internal and external plurality of legal systems is called sociology of law.

Sources of Islamic law include the Koran, Sunnah and Ijma, but most modern Western nation-states take the basis of their legal system from the Christian superpowers of old (Britain, France etc.). That is also why moral laws found in the Bible have actually been made full-fledged laws, with the initial grundnorm set far back in legal history, hence fulfilling the priority of both the positivists and the naturalists. The policy analyst Hamed Kazemzadeh writes, "In spite of the levelling off of many present differences under the impact of science, technology, and increased intercommunication, we cannot in any reasonably near future envisage any substantial lessening of the differences in our basic value systems, either philosophical or cultural".