What makes a field of law “New Public Law?” In this article, we’ll discuss some of the arguments for using the term and discuss some of its limitations. We’ll also look at some of the critics of the term. The term is a bit tricky to define, because there are many different kinds of law.
Criticisms of the term
New legal critics have diverged from earlier critical legal theories in their methodological approach. They reject deconstructionist methodology and Marxist “rights critiques,” as well as Gramscian-style worries about legitimation and hegemony. But their approach carries some important parallels.
They argue that a theory of justice that is rooted in relational justice is the most adequate way to capture the ethical commitments of law. But this theory entails a departure from traditional conceptions of private law, which make a theory of justice central to the law. These two critics argue that the norm of private law should be interpersonal justice rather than economic justice.
The history of law review criticism has been episodic, with each wave becoming more intense. The first wave of criticism had minimal impact on law review practices, while the second wave of criticism reflected growing frustration. A third wave of criticism emerged in the mid-1980s after pressure to publish a law review increased.