This article proposes a critical analysis of the contributions of Niklas Luhmann and Gunther Teubner to the development of the Systems Theory of Law (STL). Its main hypothesis is that the authors in question converge towards a shared critique of the basic theses of classical sociological theories, which assert that law is an epiphenomenon of the social relations of a variety of agents and their distinct interests: individuals, classes, corporations, parties, and so on. In contrast, Systems Theory claims that law can be analyzed as a social subsystem which, based on the operation of its own code, imprints a meaning and content to the communications of the action's agents. This not only means that law is created by social relations between agents, but that law also creates realities that guide the actions of agents.
Law; Sociological theory; Systems analysis; Subjectivism; Historicism; Autopoiesis