The interpretative approach to bankruptcy law

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to highlight how an interpretative approach to law as posited by Dworkin may be used to remedy the tension between employment protection and corporate rescue laws.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a doctrinal and theoretical approach to law.FindingsThe tension between corporate rescue and employment protection laws affects both employees’ and business owners’ policy objectives on corporate insolvency. The theoretical perspectives of both the traditionalists and proceduralists have so far failed to provide a clear approach on how this tension may be balanced or remedied. This paper proposes that this tension may be remedied through interpretation, that is, by adopting Dworkin’s Interpretative Approach to Law.Originality/valueMost researchers and academics have written extensively about the tension between corporate rescue and employment protection, but this paper is the first of its kind to propose a remedy to this tension through interpretation.