Abstract

This article aims to establish a stable starting point for the theoretical discussion of non-state legal phenomena, ie, putatitive types of law that lack some of the distinctive features of state legal systems. First, it provides a guiding catalogue of paradigmatic examples of non-state legal phenomena and rehearses the problems associated with state-centred accounts. Second, it proposes a methodological approach to address the conceptual questions created by non-state legal phenomena. Finally, the article isolates three central theoretical puzzles generated by non-state law. These are the disputes about the existence of commonalities among all types of law, the distinction between law and non-law, and the explanatory centrality of norms. This trio of concerns sets the agenda for an explanatory-clarifying account of non-state legal phenomena.