ABOUT NORMATIVE POWERS, NULLITY AND RECOGNITION

Abstract

The article discusses the concept of nullity in general, arguing that it should be analysed as law's refusal to recognise an alleged exercise of normative powers and not as a "civil sanction", as traditional doctrinal thinking explains it. The law modulates the consequences of this irregularity, and one of these modulations is the distinction between absolute nullity and relative nullity. Absolute nullity is complete lack of recognition: the purported exercise of powers does not bind anyone. In the case of relative nullity, on the other hand, the act is recognised, but imperfectly. In effect, the law gives someone the right to decide whether the act will remain valid.