FAHRIZAL S.SIAGIAN, S.H.,M.H.

     Author :  Fahrizal S.Siagian, S.H.,M.H.  (Doctor In Law Student, Faculty of Law, Universitas Sumatera Utara)      State and law are the two inseparable variables in the school of legal positivism. As John Gardner formulates, legal positivism is the proposition that in any legal system, whether a given norm is legally valid, and hence whether it forms part of the law of that system, depends on its sources, not its merits. Legal positivism has at least three constitutive elements. The first is the conceptual separation of law and morality, i.e. the distinction between what law is and what it ought to be. The second is the sources of law, i.e., where law gets its normativity and coerciveness from and finally, the role of judges in adjudication. Legal philosophers in the school of legal positivism have addressed the first and the third elements differently. For instance, classical legal positivists (mainly Bentham and Hobbs) advance their theorie...