The connections between cooperative values and principles and the legal principles of co-operative law

Abstract

This article proposes a conceptual framework to understand the relations between co operative values and principles, and also between them and the legal principles of co operative law. The Statement on the Co operative Identity makes possible to grasp the view of the International Co operative Alliance on values. The values recognized are ethical values understood from a utilitarian perspective, where co operative principles are guides for conduct oriented towards the realization of such values. Those ethical values and principles connect with the co operative legislation through legal principles. When co operative principles are recognized as norms, they generate explicit legal principles. When they are recognized by judges, they qualify as implicit legal principles. Nevertheless, both categories show certain problems as far as interpretation and the reach of their commands are concerned, problems that separate them from co operative principles seen from an ethical perspective.