Legalrationell

Legalrationell is a theoretical approach in legal philosophy and jurisprudence that aims to ground legal reasoning in explicit rational justification and formal coherence. Proponents argue that the legitimacy of law rests on transparent, well-structured arguments that connect statutory text, precedent, and overarching normative principles.

The term blends the English word legal with the Swedish word rationell, meaning rational. It has appeared in academic discussions within Nordic and European legal thought since the early 21st century, where scholars use it to describe a strand of argumentation that seeks systematic, reasoned justification for legal conclusions without relying solely on tradition or authority.

Core principles of legalrationell include logical coherence, methodological transparency, and explicit justification. Practitioners emphasize constructing arguments that can be independently checked for consistency with relevant norms, such as constitutional provisions, statutory schemes, and established precedents. The approach often involves stepwise reasoning, principled interpretation, and cross-case consistency checks to avoid ad hoc justifications.

Applications of legalrationell span constitutional interpretation, statutory interpretation, and administrative decision-making. It is used to assess how legal provisions should be applied in a way that is logically defendable and normatively defensible, while still engaging with real-world implications. Critics contend that an excessive focus on formal rationality may neglect social context, empirical considerations, or the impact of legal outcomes on marginalized groups, potentially leading to rigid or abstract conclusions. Supporters argue that it helps clarify the justificatory standards of law and improves predictability in legal reasoning, by making reasoning more auditable and coherent within a positive-law framework.