Legitimation problems in the world society

Abstract

The fragmentation of legal regimes in theworld society rejects the consideration of legitimacy interms of the hierarchy of norms or courts, and promotesthe reflexion on a weak normative compatibility whichenables a coordination between legal fragments and itssocially-coupled operative fields. As legitimatory candidatesto confront this problem, discursive rationality,procedimental legitimacy, the self-constitutionality ofregimes and the concept of justice as the contingencyformula of law are discussed. The latter appears as a privilegedmechanism of legitimation —a key element inpromoting a self-transcendence of law and the observationof derivatives of legitimacy in non-legal fields.