LJU4801 Assignment 2 2025 – Due 10 April 2025

Assessment 2 LJU4801
Instructions

Questions

1. There are divergent views on how judges decide cases. From the objectivist
theories’ perspective judges are part of a community of interpreters and this community
determines how judges must decide cases.

Briefly explain this perspective using Dworkin’s communalist theory. Your
answer should not exceed 300 words.

Dworkin’s communalist theory, as part of the objectivist approach, asserts that
judges are not independent decision-makers but are instead constrained by a broader
community of interpreters. This community includes other judges, legal scholars, and
the legal traditions of the system within which they operate¹. The theory suggests that
judicial decision-making is not a subjective exercise but is guided by the principles and
values historically embedded in the legal system².

1
Dworkin, R. (1986). Law’s Empire. Harvard University Press.