Prawo w późnej nowoczesności. Uwagi socjologa prawa

The aim of this article is to examine selected phenomena and processes occurring in late modernity that bring significant challenges for the operation of the law. The article is supposed to be the impetus to deepen interdisciplinary reflections on the law that should be considered in a social context. Firstly, in the article the presentation of characteristic aspects of late modernity is given. The description is concentrated on: (a) risk society, (b) increasing role of experts, (c) issue of lack of trust, (d) moral panic, (e) post-testing. Secondly, the article is focused on finding direct links between abovementioned and processes that occur in law: (a) difficulties encountered in the legal policy, (b) legislative and decision-making problems, (c) reformulation of the role of lawyers, (d) diversification level of prestige and confidence in the law, (e) its inflation or (f) instrumental use in the political game. Those processes cannot be treated as unequivocally negative. The output of the presented article is to point out the awareness of the fact that those phenomena may be indicators of difficulties appearing during the process of creation of the law and its application. The purpose of the article is to provoke the discussion that will enrich the reflection on the law by using the achievements and knowledge of other social sciences, especially sociology.