CONTEMPORARY JUDICIAL CHALLENGES IN THE LIGHT OF TCD

Abstract

Starting from the diagnosis that courts are increasingly called upon to adjudicate dense and multifaceted cases arising from a changing society, this article presents the Complex Theory of Law (TCD) as a methodological instrument for qualifying the judicial task. In place of strict formal rationalism, the article advances the idea of controlled pluralism which, while preserving hierarchy and legality, integrates, in a justified and reasoned manner, legally admissible “orbital” sources foreseeable to the parties involved in the proceedings, without neglecting the legal constraints of the system. It is argued that TCD, by providing judges with methodological tools for constructing case-specific legal norms, enhances the legitimacy and effectiveness of judicial decisions by rendering them auditable (that is, supported by dense reasoning), coherent with the constitutional project of the Democratic State governed by the Rule of Law, and responsive to social complexity, thereby minimizing perceptions of arbitrariness or judicial activism without compromising the necessary protection of rights.