ABSTRACT
Extensive criticism has been made of the positivist approach, including that it was an overreaction to the natural law doctrine, drawing on 19th century distinctions between ‘is’ and ‘ought’. It has been said that it takes no account of values and fails to contemplate a connection between law and morality, the emphasis on sanction is not a true representation of law, as some laws impose no sanction and others impose a sanction in the absence of a legal duty. Other laws are power-conferring and it is far fetched to define sanction as including, for example, nullity following a failure to make a will in accordance with the proper rules.
