The normative force of principles and their importance for the rereading of the Brazilian civil law: reflections based on the principles of human dignity and equality

Abstract

This work seeks to bring theoretical reflections about the importance of principles for the interpretation and application of law in Brazil. From a literature review, we present the remarkable moments, from the eighteenth century to the present day, observed in the relation between civil law and constitutional law. In the twentieth century, the state began to intervene on the individual relations in order to correct distortions created or amplified by its abstentionist position. The introduction of imperative norms in the field where there once was ruling autonomy of the will, as well as state intervention in the economic domain, are signs that show the approximation between constitutional law and civil law. In this framework created by post-positivist dogmatic, highly associated with the recognition of the principles' normativity, we emphasize that the principles play a very important role in the reconstruction of the traditional institutes of private law. In this sense, currently, there is a widespread understanding that the civil law should be an instrument of realization of constitutional principles.