Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence is the study of the Theory of Law. It is often regarded as the philosophy of law and is concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do. It deals with ethical questions concerning the administration of justice within a society.

Broadly speaking, Jurisprudence involves views of various

• Schools of Jurisprudence
• Theory of State (and Sovereignty)
• Theory of Law (Austinian Theory of Law, Salmond's definition of law, Kelsen's Pure Theory of Law etc., Concept of Constitutional and Administrative Law, International Law, Personal Laws and Territorial Laws)
• Sources of Law
• Jural Analysis (Legal Rights and Duties, Contract and Quasi-Contract, Ownership and Possession etc.)
• Theory of Justice (Law and Justice, Civil and Criminal Justice, Standards of Justice)

People who study Jurisprudence are regarded as legal philosophers. Students new to this subject often find this subject hard because this subjects requires a deeper understanding and a philosophical view on the concepts of law and justice.

Contents 1 Definition of Jurisprudence 2 General and Paricular Jurisprudence 3 Topics on Jurisprudence 3.1 Theory of the State 3.2 Sources of Law and Jural Analysis 3.3 Theory of Justice 4 Law as an obligation 5 Contractarian Theories 6 Directive Principles of State policy 7 Theories of Authority 8 Other Jurisprudence topics 9 Related Topics

Definition of Jurisprudence

Several legal jurists have attempted to give definitions of Jurisprudence. Etymologically speaking, Jurisprudence is the "Knowledge of Law".

The Roman Jurist, Ulpian, defined Jurisprudence as "The observation of things human and dive, the knowledge of just and unjust."

General and Paricular Jurisprudence

Austin defines General Jurisprudence as "The science concerned with the exposition of principles, notions and distinction of the common systems of law, understanding by the systems of law, the ampler and maturer systems, which by the reason of their amplitude and maturity, are pre-eminently pregnant with instuction". Particular Jurisprudence is the study of any one such systems of law.

Salmond criticized that the Austin's definition saying that a principle to become a topic of jurisprudence need not be common to the systems of law. In his words, "General Jurisprudence is not the study of legal systems in general but the study of the general or fundamental elements of a particular legal system".

Topics on Jurisprudence

• Natural Law
• Analytic Jurisprudence
• Normative Jurisprudence
• Need to study Jurisprudence

Theory of the State

• Definition and Concept of State
• Unitary and Federal State
• Theory of Sovereignty
• Austin's Theory of Sovereignty
• Salmond's Theory of Sovereignty

Sources of Law and Jural Analysis

• Concept of Law
  • Law of Natural Sciences
  • Laws on obligations
  • HART Concept of Law
  • Law as system of Rules

Theory of Justice

• Theory of Justice
• Reasoned decision

Law as an obligation

• Concepts: Liability, obligations, sanction, coercion, compulsion, duty, estoppel, promise

Contractarian Theories

• General-will theories
• Free-will theories
• Autonomous theories
• Positivist theories
• Transcendental Theories
• Law as a means of social control
• Law as Volksgeist

Directive Principles of State policy

• locus standi

Theories of Authority

• Types of authority - legislative, judicial and customary
• Precedent
• Legislation
• Interpretation of Statutes

Other Jurisprudence topics

• Principles of morality or natural justice
• Basic Structure Doctrine
• Functions of Law
• Law the upholder of the moral order in the society
• Concept of dharma - connection between law and morality
• Law for bringing efficiency and social stability
• Utilitarian views
• Feminist Jurisprudence

Related Topics

• Realism
• Naturalist Theory
• Positivist Theory
• Sociological Theory
• Criminology - the study of Criminals, their nature, causes, detection and prevention of crime
• Penology - the study of Punishments with respect to the offenses