he thre e fold purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that r i chard nordqu i st 195 1 The concept of legal methodology refers both to the method actually used by lawyers, judges and legal scholars when constructing a legal argument (juristische Methode) and statements about the content of that method (juristische Methodenlehre). The core of any legal method is the selection of sources of law, as well as the selection of arguments considered to be valid when a particular interpretation of a legal rule is advocated. Nineteenth Century Legal Theory and Legislative Technique: the Rise of Legislative History as a Source of Law Tthe modern discussion on the value of legislative history in statutory interpretation is characterised by a global attempt to question the legitimacy of legislative history as a source of law; to illustrate that this resistance can be interpreted as a reaction against the growing practical importance of that source; and to suggest that this divergence between legal theory and reality curiously enough repeats a debate that took place in the nineteenth century, and that a study of the historical development of the production and use of legislative history, especially in Nordic countries, can provide further knowledge of the interaction between legislative technique, legal theory, and statutory interpretation. It is not often that the legitimacy of a source of law or a method of statutory interpretation is tried by courts. In other words, only rarely are matters of legal methodology1 transformed into questions of law in themselves. The European Court of Justice, however, is a place where such issues are more likely to arise than in other courts, since EU member states can be tried there for any failure to comply with the obligation 1. th e que st i on i ng of l e g i s lat i ve h i story as a s ourc e of law: a g lobal re s i stanc e moveme nt
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