Once Again: The Positivist Weight Formula
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52292/j.dsc.2026.4804Keywords:
Alexy's Weight Formula, Positivist Weight Formula, Proportionality, Laws of Balancing, Intensity of Judicial ReviewAbstract
In normative systems where the German model of proportionality has been adopted as law, the two “laws of balancing” (substantive and epistemic) form the normative framework of balancing. Thus, a decision of balancing (legislative or judicial) is legitimate if and only if it does not violate such “laws”. Yet, the problem is that, despite the consensus about their content, their mathematical expression in Alexy’s weight formula is highly criticizable, mainly because it does not consider that they are mere limits of discretion (and not norms of preference). Attempting to express the constant of direct proportionality included in each one of them, a formula is presented, containing only the variables representing the normative content of such “laws”. It is an equation that aims to be the mathematical correct formulation of the internal justification of a balancing decision.
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