The relationship between legal argumentation and the human rights approach in a competency-based profile for the start of legal practice

Abstract

This study is part of the research project Dna of the legal profession developed at the Center for Studies on Law Teaching and Learning (Ceead), which resulted in a profile based on competency standards for the start of legal practice. One of the dimensions of this profile is legal argumentation, which has historically been considered an essential activity for lawyers. To establish the rule of law in a country, it is crucial to identify how legal argumentation, which has the potential to be used for political purposes, integrates with the human rights approach. To contribute to the discussion, this work explores the relationship between these two concepts based on the perceptions of the lawyers who participated in the development of the profile for the start of legal practice. The results showed that law is understood as a tool for achieving social transformation, and similarly, argumentation is a process that cannot be reduced to technical aspects but necessarily involves responding to the social context, as well as using it to solve legal problems and protect human rights.