Jurisprudence

• The word jurisprudence comes from the Latin word ‘jurisprudentia’. Juris means law and prudentia means knowledge. So jurisprudence stands for “knowledge of the law” or “wisdom of the law” or “philosophy of the law”.  In general sense, Jurisprudence is the knowledge which deals with law. The study of jurisprudence started with the Romans. Bentham is known as Father of Jurisprudence. The study of jurisprudence provides an opportunity for the lawyer to bring theory and life into focus in relation to the social existence of human being. The law should serve the purpose of social-engineering by preserving societal values and eliminating conflicting interests of individuals in society.
• In its nature it is entirely a different subject from other social science because it is not codified but a growing and dynamic subject having no limitation on itself.  Every jurist does not base his study on the rules made but tries to understand their utility after due deliberation. Hence the jurisprudence is continuously growing subject and has no limited scope.
• It is called both art and science.  In science, we draw conclusions after making a systematic study by inventing new methods. By applying this concept we can say that jurisprudence is a science. But everybody cannot master it hence it is an art.
• There is no universal or uniform definition of Jurisprudence since people have different ideologies and notions throughout the world. It is a very vast subject. Definition of jurisprudence is given below.
• According to Austin, the jurisprudence is the science concerned with Positive. It has nothing to do with the goodness or badness of law.
• Salmond observed that “In jurisprudence, we are not concerned to derive rules from authority and apply them to the problem, we are concerned rather reflect on the nature of legal rules, on the underlying meaning of legal concepts and on the essential features of the legal system.”  It, therefore, follows that jurisprudence comprises philosophy of law and its object is not to discover new rules but to reflect on the rules already known.

Importance of Jurisprudence:

• The legal researches on jurisprudence may have their effect on contemporary socio-political thought and at the same time may themselves be influenced by different ideologies.
• It serves to render the complexities of law in a more manageable and rational way which can help to improve practice in the law.
• Its study helps in rationalizing the thinking the students and prepares them for an upright civil life.
• The knowledge of the law and legal precepts helps the citizen to face every exigency of human affairs boldly and courageously.
• The logical analysis of legal concepts widens the outlook of lawyers and sharpens their logical technique. It helps them in shading aside their rigidity and formalism and trains them to concentrate or social realities and the functional aspects of the law.
• It has been characterized as “The eye of law.”
• It helps the Judges and the Lawyers in ascertaining the true meaning of the laws passed by the legislature by providing the interpretation.
• It may be helpful for legislators to understand the technicalities of law and legal precepts which is important in law-making.

Jurisprudence the Eye of Law:

• The eyes are one of the most important parts of the human body. Almost all human activities and the movements of the body are possible only through them.  Unless man can see anything properly, he cannot do any work. Thus eyes are the important organ of human body.
• The jurisprudence functions for law in the same manner as the eyes do in the human body.  The interpretation of the law is a very difficult task, it cannot be done without the help of jurisprudence.
• It trains the mind of a lawyer into legal ways of thought and enables him to bring to bear on his work that legal acumen which is essential for his task.
• It provides precise and unambiguous terminology, which enables a lawyer to have a clear conception of the subject.
• The main function of jurisprudence is to study the origin of law, its development and its contribution towards society. The matters to birth, marriages, death, succession, etc., are equally controlled through laws. It is the well-known saying that, “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” hence it is essential to know the correct basic principles of law which are contained only in the jurisprudence.
• Law is also connected with civil life. A person who obeys laws is known as a civilized citizen. A person who does not obey the law is punished. It is therefore necessary that all the people should have the sound knowledge of the law which is possible only with the help of jurisprudence.  Therefore, jurisprudence, having so much importance for society, has rightly been called the eye of law.
• We can say that jurisprudence has a similar relationship with the law as that of grammar with the language.

Contents of jurisprudence:

Sources:

• Authoritative sources and the nature and working of the legal authority behind these sources is the main feature of jurisprudence. It includes custom, legislation, precedent, pros, and cons of codification of laws, methods of judicial interpretation and reasoning, an inquiry into the administration of justice, etc.

Legal Concepts:

• Jurisprudence includes the analysis and study of legal concepts such as rights, title, property, ownership, possession, obligations, acts, negligence, legal personality and related issues.
• These concepts are equally studied in the several ordinary branches of law, but jurisprudence tries to build a more comprehensive picture of each concept as a whole.

Legal Theory:  

• Legal theory is concerned with law as it exists and functions in the society and the manner in which law is created and enforced as also the influence of social opinion and law on each other. Hence it is necessary that while analyzing legal concepts, an effort should be made to present them in the background of social developments and changing economic and political attitudes.