Subject of Law in the Socio-Legal Theory of B. Latour: from Ontology to Verification Procedure

The article examines the conceptualization of the legal subject in B. Latour’s socio-legal theory. The starting point of the analysis is Latourian understanding of law as an autonomous mode of existence, possessing its own ontology and irreducible to formal prescriptions or socio-power relations. The author examines the key elements of this ontology, namely the actor-network nature of law and the features of the procedure of veridiction (establishing truth). Special attention is paid to the concept of the “quasi subject”, which B. Latourintroduces to overcome the substantial understanding of the subject. It is shown that in the Latourian perspective, the legal subject does not possess a fixed essence but completely coincides with the process of its own subjectivation, whichis carried out through objectification in legal procedures, texts, and cases. In conclusion, the advantages (attention to the object-procedural dimension, non-reductionism) and disadvantages (insufficient consideration of legal consciousness) of the Latourian approach are formulated, and ways to supplement it for a more complete theoretical and legal description of the subject are outlined.