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Conclusion
Hart then states his conclusion as follows:
It is obvious that the idea of a command with its very strong
connexion with authority is much closer to that of law than our
gunmans order backed by threats, though the latter is an
instance of what Austin, ignoring the distinctions noticed in the
last paragraph, misleadingly calls a command [11]
This statement of Harts has three distinct steps which we must
clearly separate if we are to appreciate the force of his
conclusion.
Command is closer to law than order backed by threats.
Although Austin used the former, he actually meant the latter.
Austin overlooked the five factors of command.
Point (a) Is uncontestable.
Point (b) Is completely untenable.
It bears no relationship to Austins position whatever, and
although it moves away from Austins statement of his position,
which Hart stated he would do in certain circumstances, it is so
far from being an improvement on that position that Austin
would probably have regarded it as the veriest foolishness.
Because of the tremendous influence of Harts suggestion, I
cannot, unfortunately, dismiss it so lightly; I must examine
points (b) and (c) of Harts conclusion in detail, to see if there is
any trace of credibility in them. I must compare the gunmans
order backed by threats with what Austin actually said to see if