New Publications in Legal Theory

We are pleased to highlight two recent publications: S.I. Puț, Theory of Law (2nd revised and expanded edition) and Theory of Law: Seminar Workbook (2nd revised and expanded edition), both published by Hamangiu (Bucharest, 2026).

The main volume serves as a university course for first-year students, designed to provide fundamental legal knowledge—a minimal conceptual “kit” for understanding the law.

As the author himself notes, the second edition of this course is structured around the duality of legal typicality and atypicality; it aims to enrich the content with relevant, useful legal material and to further develop the directions established in the first edition. This does not represent a paradigm shift or a revolution regarding the initial inquiries and answers; however—recognizing that one cannot find answers to questions one has not yet formulated—the author introduces new questions designed to further explore current legal topics. These questions are part of the process of “legal literacy,” serving as an entry point into the labyrinth of the law.

The fundamental question driving this analysis—”What is law?”—has occupied humanity for millennia, eliciting diverse answers that, among other things, highlight the polymorphic nature of law depending on the various perspectives adopted. In fact, for the sake of rigor and to provide well-founded, appropriate answers, this question should first be met with a counter-question: “Which law?” This is because law is something that can mean a great many things—and indeed, at times, something else entirely: it is both (legal) *logos* and judgment, concept and phenomenon, typicality and atypicality, naturalis and artificialis, inclusive and subversive, hard and soft, existence and virtuality, freedom and coercion, reflection and rule, ideal and ontic, science and justice, shield and sword, action and abstention, stasis and dynamism, anima legis and ratio legis, arrogance and humility, order and exception, abstraction and particularization, culture and becoming, art and technique, power and weakness, content and form, substance and procedure, imago juris and veritas juris, jus strictum and jus aequum, parable and empiricism.

The seminar workbook has practical utility and is designed to assist students in preparing for seminars on the General Theory of Law.

The volumes were published by Hamangiu Publishing House on September 22, 2026, and can be viewed at the following link: https://www.hamangiu.ro/pachet-teoria-dreptului.