Do human rights depend on the law, and what is the relationship between the law and the demands of justice?

The answer to what is really fundamental is not contained in the "Babel of languages" of constitutions, codes or sentences. It is necessary to take into consideration the general ideas and the pluralism of the cultural, ethical, religious and political universes that characterize and explain today's society. “Ductile law” is a peaceful and democratic proposal. By tracing European history from the rule of law of the 19th century to the constitutional state of our time, the book shows how legal norms can no longer be either the expression of party interests or the formulation of universal and immutable conceptions that someone can impose and others must comply with. The principles of liberty and justice come into contact with the real cases of life and must guide the application of the law by judges, whose function is completely different from that of acting as mere spokesmen for the law.

In the new edition, the Introduction responds to the criticism raised by this countercultural book at the time of its publication 30 years ago. by reiterating that jurists aware of the social function of law cannot ignore these complicated roots of their profession.