Contents of Jurisprudence

Sources:

It is well known that basic feature of legal system are mainly to be found in its authoritative sources and the nature and working of the legal authority behind those sources. Therefor, it obviously forms the contents of jurisprudence, under this hand matters such as customs, legislation and precedent as a source of law.

Codification of laws, methods of judicial interpretation and reasoning and inquiry into the administration of justice etc, are included for study.

Legal concepts:

Another area, with which jurisprudence is concerned, includes analysis of legal concepts such rights, titles, property, ownership, possession, obligations, acts, negligence, legal personality and related issues.

Although these entire concept are equally studied in the ordinary branches of law, but since each of them functions in several branches of law.

Jurisprudence tries to build up a more comprehensive picture of each concept as a whole. The study of these abstract legal concepts furnishes a background for better understanding of law in its various forms.

Legal theory:

Besides the sources and forces operating behind them and various legal concepts, legal theory also, constitutes one of the components of jurisprudence.

Legal theory is concerned with law as it exits and functions in this society, and the manner in which law created and enforces as also the influence of social opinion and law on each other.

Thus, legal theory seeks to link law with other disciplines and pursue its study in a wider social prospective. It is therefore, necessary that while analyzing legal concept, an effort should be made to present them in the backgroundof social development and changing economic and political attitudes.

Relation of jurisprudence with other social science:

Jurisprudence & Ethics:

Ethics as a branch of knowledge deals with human conduct and lays down the ideals of human behavior. It is closely related to morality and public opinion, which are dynamic concepts varying from place to place, from time to time, and from people to people.

What may be a good morality at one time may not necessarily remain so all time and it may even become a bad moral conduct in time to come. Thus, the public opinion and moral precepts go on changing with social regulation, social culture and social development.

Jurisprudence is concerned with positive morality since law is considered as an instrument of regulates human conduct in the society. Positive morality does not depend on ideal behavior or good actions but it requires coercive force for maintaining public conscience.

There is a separate branch of jurisprudence called ethical jurisprudence, which seeks to lay down the standards of ideal for human conduct in terms of law for maintenance of public conscience. It must; however, be stated that there are many unethical acts, which lay does not seeks to punish.

For example,the law does not take notice of trifles, so also to tell a lie is unethical but it is not punishable as an offence. Conversely, all that is prohibited is not necessarily immoral e.g. possessing land beyond ceiling limit is punishable under the law but it is not unethical act.

Generallyspeaking, law must not be divorced from accepted human values since it is an instrument for regulation human conduct in a given society. As  Dr.  M.J. Sethna rightly pointed out, las of community are reflected in its culture, ideology and norms, they are therefor; indicators of country’s civilization and the ethical standard of the society hence ethical value cannot be excluded from jurisprudence.

Jurisprudence & Psychology:

Psychology as a branch of knowledge is concern with the working of brain or mental faculty. Since, jurisprudence and law are necessarily concerned with human action and it is the human mind, which control human action, and inter-relation between psychology and jurisprudence need not be over emphasized. Particularly in dealing with crimes the psychology of criminals is generally taken into consideration. Again, psychology plays a dominant role in the study of criminology and penology. The psychology of an offence is also one of the crucial factors in deciding the nature of the punishment of the convicted person.

The modern reformative techniques of punishments such as probation, parole, in determinate sentence, admonition, pardon etc, are essentially device for the treatment of offenders according to their psychological trails.

That apart, legal concept such as negligence, intention, motive, means rea, recklessness, rashness etc. pertains to the faculty of mind and therfor, they form a part of study of psychology as also the jurisprudence.

Jurisprudence & history:

It is difficult to appreciate the present law and legal system without probing into its part historical revolution. Therefor, there is close inter-relation between jurisprudence and history.

History consists of the study of past event in their proper perspective. Thus, in order tounderstand the constitutional jurisprudence of country, it is necessary to look into its past constitutional history.

It may, therefor, be concluded that the study of different branches of law essential requires their study in the historical perspective without which its knowledge would remain incomplete.

Jurisprudence & sociology:

Sociology also includes the study of a part of law to some extent. For example, criminology is one of the inter-disciplinary subjects related to both sociology andlaw. Again, jurisprudence includes within its compass, the sociology of law that is the practical functioning of law in the society.

Further, sociology as well as the study of jurisprudence is concerned with regulation of human conduct in the society. Therefore, the two are intimate connected.

It must, however, be noted in this context that lawyers approach to law in different from that of a sociologist’s attitude towards law.

The lawyer’s looks it from the point of view enforceability and obedience by the people, while the sociologist concentrates on studying how these rules actually govern the behavior of individual in the society.

More recently, the judges have accepted the role of sociology and its relationship with law it is often reflected in their decisions.

G.W Patton has support the relationship between law and sociology for three obvious reasons:

(1) It enables better understanding of the evolution and development of      law.

(2) It provides greater substratum for identity of law commensurate with human needs and societal interest;  and

(3) It provide objectively to legal interpretation, which is the need of the hour

Without social inter-action, law would remain a mere theoretical perception devoid of any practical utility.

Jurisprudence & economics:

Economics being a science of money and wealth and jurisprudence a science of law, both are intimately co-related. Economics deals with production and distribution of wealth for satisfying the wealth of the people. It is one of the major factors responsible for the incidence of crimes.

There are many laws, which seeks to regulate economic activities of humankind- such as laws relating to banking, companies, negotiable instrument, consumer production, ceiling of land and wealth, payment of wages, bonus, insurance, debt etc are intended to regulate one of the other economic activity of man in society.

Law of poverty has developed as a separate branch of law for the welfare of the poor. The ultimate aim of economics as well as jurisprudence is to improve the standard of life of the people for the welfare of the community as a whole. The law of population control provides best example of it.

Jurisprudence & politics:

Freidman remarked that jurisprudence is linked at one end with philosophy at other end with political theory. Political science dealswith the principles governing the governmental organization. State is a politically organized society, which makes law for good governs of the people.

Politicians who are representatives of the people from the legislature are the law-making organs of the government. This amply reflects on the relationship of jurisprudence that means science of law with politics.