Consistency by Hierarchy
- ISSN: 1126-5779
- Revista: ANALISI E DIRITTO
- Número: 2013
- Fecha de publicación: 1 de Enero de 2013
In this contribution, I shall intend to show that the criterion lex superior
derogat legi inferiori has a consequence which, as far as I know, has not been
noted yet: if the higher-level norms in a legal system, i.e. constitutional norms,
configure a consistent set, then necessarily the legal system is consistent. Lex
superior preserves necessarily the consistency, as it were. If higher-level norms
are members of a consistent set, then the lower-levels could admit no norm in
contradiction with the higher-level norms. Moreover, given that from a contradiction
follows anything, in virtue of the logical principle ex falso quodlibet, from
two contradictory lower-level norms follow some norms in contradiction with
norms of the higher-level, thus contradictory norms could never be admitted in
the lower-levels.
