What is Rechtsidee?

The term rechtsidee is derived from Dutch, meaning legal ideal. According to A Hamid S Attamimi, it is best translated as legal ideal rather than legal aspirations. These two phrases indeed show a significant difference in meaning. Therefore, a legal ideal can be interpreted as an idea, concept, creation, or thought. The definition of a legal ideal implies that the essence of law truly originates from the ideas, concepts, or feelings of its society.

Referring to another expert, Gustaf Radbruch argues that a legal ideal is a fundamental form of law that is constitutive. This means that without a legal ideal, a law would lose its meaning as law. Thus, a legal ideal becomes a regulatory measure.

This means that a legal ideal serves as a test of whether a country's positive law is just or not. Meanwhile, Radbruch conceptualizes rechtsidee with the value of justice in the context of law. He tries to relate this concept to a value-oriented theory of law, where the ideal value used by Radbruch is the value of justice.

For a simplification regarding Radbruch's intent, Hans Gribnau, a legal expert from Tilburg University, the Netherlands, attempts to further explain the concept of legal value in Radbruch's legal ideal. This implies that its starting point is the idea that law aims to create justice, or ideal law itself.

Then, another correct opinion from Radbruch states that the concept of law depends on the legal ideal (rechtsidee) of the country itself. There is also another consistent opinion from Meuwissen, who conceptualizes the legal ideal as a legal reality. The meaning of this statement is that the legal ideal is formed from the thoughts of society aimed at achieving happiness, order, and justice.