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LAW

Law has been variously defined by various individuals from different point of view and hence there could

not be and is not any unanimity of opinion regarding the real nature of law &definition.

Morris : To azoologist a horse suggest the genus Mammalian Quadruped to a traveler a means of

transportation to an average man the sports of a !ing to a certain nation an article of food"

Lord Lloyd : #ince much $uristic in! has flowed in an endeavour to provide a universally acceptable

definition of law but with little sign of attaining that ob$ective"

R.Wolheim : Much of confusion in defining law has been due to different types of purpose sought to be

achieved

%arious schools of law have defined law from different angles

ased on 1.Nature 2. Sources 3.Effect on society 4.Terms of ends or urose of la!.

Law is a social science and grows and develops with growth and development of society .'

definition which does not cover various aspects of law is bound to be imperfect .(ew developments in

society create new problems and law is re)uired to deal with those problems.Thus the definition and scopeof law must continue to change .The result is that a definition of law given at a particular time cannot

remain valid for alltimes to come.' satisfactory definition today may be found narrow tomorrow.

"rof.#eeton : To attempt to establish a single satisfactory definition of law is to see! to confine$urisprudence with in a straight $ac!et from which it is continually striving to escape."

"rof.$art : *ew )uestions concerning human society have been as!ed with persistence and answered byserious thin!ers in so many diverse strained and even parado+ical way as the )uestion , -hat is law ."

"olloc%: (o tolerably prepared candidates in an /nglish or 'merican law school will hesitate to define an

estate in fee simple 0 on the other hand the greater a lawyers opportunities for !nowledge have been andthe more time he has given to the study of legal principles the greater will be his hesitation in the face of the

apparently simple )uestion , -hat is law ."

&ustinian: Law is the !ing of all mortal and immortal affairs which ought to be the hief the ruler and

the leader of the noble and the base and thus the standard of what is $ust and un$ust the commander to

animals naturally social of what they should do the forbidder of what they should do

'lian : The art or science of what is e)uitable and good

(icaro: The highest reason implanted in nature ."

"indar : /very law is gift of god and decision of sages

'gain"This law top which all men yield obedience for many reasons and especially because every law is a

discovery and gift of god and at the same time a decision of wise men a rightening of transgression both

volutary and involuntary and the common covenant of a state in accordance with which it beseeches allmen in the state to lead their lives"

(hysihus : The comman law which is the right reason moving through all things and identical with

zeus the supreme administrator of the universe"

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(aito : ' Le+ is a general command of the people or the plebs on )uestion by magistrate."

Ana)imenes: Law is a definite proposition in pursuance of a common agreement of a state intimating

how everything should be done ."

$o**es: Law is a speech of him who by rights commands somewhat to be done or omitted"

'gain Law in general is not counsel but command 0 nor a command of any man to any man but only of

him whose command is addressed to one formerly obliged to obey him .'nd as for civil law it addeth only

the name of the highest person commanding which ispersona civitatisthe highest person of commonwealth".

+lac% Stone : , Law in its most general and comprehensive sense signifies a rule of action and is appliedindiscriminately to all !inds of actionswhether animate1inanimate raional 1irrational .Thus we say the laws

of gravitation or optics1mechanicsas well as the law of nature and of nations."

$oo%er: 'ny !ind of rule or canon whereby actions are framed .That which reason in such sort definite to

be good that it must be done

'gain 2f law therecan be no less ac!nowledged than that her seat in the bosom of 3od her voice theharmony of the world all things in heaven and earth does her homage the very least as feeling her care

and the greatest as not e+empted from her power 0both angels and men and creatures of what condition soever 0 though each in different sort and manner yet all with uniform consent admiring her as mother of

their peace and $oy"

#ant : The sum total of the conditions under which the personal wishes of one man can be combined with

personal wishes of another man in accordance with general law of freedom

$e,el: The abstract e+pression of the general will e+isting in and for itself.

Sir $enry Maine : The law has come down to us in close association with two notions the notion of

order and notions of force ."

Sa-i,ny: The rule where by the invisible borderline is fi+ed within which the being and the activity of

each individual obtains a secure and free space."

ind,radoff: 'set of rules imposed and enforced by a society with regard to the distribution and e+erciseof powers over persons and things."

Austin : Law is the aggregates of rules set by men as politically superior or sovereign to men as politicallysub$ect."

#elsen : Law as the depschologised command .Though 4elson defines law in terms of command he uses

that term differently from 'ustin .The sovereign of 'ustin does not come into the picture of 4elson5efinition of law."

"ound: ' social institution to satisfy social wants."

/u,uit: 6t is essentially and e+clusively a social fact .The foundation of law is in the essential

re)uirements of the community life .6t can e+ist only when men live together .The sovereign is not above the

law bound by it.Law should be based on social realities.5uguit e+clude the notion of right from law .

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Therin,: The form of the guarantee of the conditions of life of societyassured by state is power of

constraint .Law is treated only as a means of social control.6t is coercive in character .2bedience to law issecured by the state through e+ternal compulsion .

Ehrlich: 6ncludes in his definition of law all the norms which governs the social life within a givensociety.

&ustice $olmes : Law is a statement of the circumstances in which the public force will be brought to bear

upon men through courts"'gain The prophecies of what the court will do in fact and nothing more pretentious are what 6 mean by

law ."

0ray: The law of the state or of any organized body of men is composed of the rules which the court 7that

is $udicial organ of that body 7lay down for the determination of legal rights &duties"

Lord Moulton : Law is the crystalised common sense of the community

+entham Law or the law ta!en indefinitely is an abstract or collective term which when it meansanything can mean neither more nor less than the sum total of a number of individual laws ta!en together."

Salmond: The body of principles recognized and applied by state in administration of $ustice ."

(ardo: 'principle of rule of conduct so established as to $ustify a prediction with reasonable certainity

that will be enforced by the courts if its authority is challenged is a principle or rule of law .

$olland: More briefly law is a general rule of eternal human action enforced by a sovereign political

authority .'ll other rules fro the guidance of human actions are laws merely by analogy and propositions

which are not rules for human action are laws by metaphor only."

"rof.M.&.Sethna : Law in its widest sense a means and involves a uniformity of behaviour constancy of

happenings or a course of events rules of action whether in the phenomena .of nature or in the ways ofrational human beings.6n synthetic sense civil law is all that body of principles decisions and enactments

made passed or approved by the legally constituited authorities or agencies in a state for regulating rights

duties and liabilities and enforced through machinery of the $udicial process securing obedience to the

sovereign authority in the state .

"aton : The term law may be defined from the point of view of theologian the historian the sociologist the

philosopher the political scientist or the lawyer . Law may be described in terms of a legal order tacitly or formally accepted bya acommunity and it

consists of body of rules which that community considers essential to its welfare and which it is willing to

enforce by the creation of specific mechanism for securing compliance.'mature system of law normally

sets up that legal order !nown as the state but we cannot say a priori that without the state no law cane+ist."

Law defined 8st7 nature reson religion ethics

9ndsource in customs precedentlegislation ;rd7life of societyeffect on

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"urose and unction of La!

Lot of speculation about that .There no dogmatic and unanimity about it .Law changes 7*rom 7Time to

time country to country .6ts not static and changes with changes in the society.

"lato: Man!ind must either give themselves a law and regulate their lives by it or live no better than

wildest of the wild beasts"

$o**es: Law was brought into the world for nothing else but to limit natural liberty of particular men in

such a manner as they might not hurt but assist one another and $oin together against a common enemy"

Loc%e : The end of law is not to abolish or restrain but to preserve or enlarge freedom".

#ant: The aim of law is freedom and the fundamental process of law is the ad$ustment of ones freedom tothat of every other member of the community".

+entham: 2f the substantive branch of the law the only defensible ob$ect or end in view is thema+imization of the happiness of the greatest number of members of the community in )uestion

$olland : Law is something more than police .6ts ultimate ob$ect is no doubt nothing less than the highest

well being of society and the state from which law derives its force is something more than a n institutionfor the protection of rights"

Roscoe "ound:Ther are < purposes of law8stto maintain law and order within a given society and that has to be done at any cost

9nd7 To maintain the status )uo in the society

;rd7 To enable individuals to have ma+imum of freedom to assert themselves.epresentatives of a school of $urist 75emand that Law should be conceived as

harmonizing the conditions under which human race accomplishes its destiny by realizing the highest good

of which he is capable .The pursuit of the highest good of the individual and of the society needs acontrolling power which is law and an organization for the application of its control which is the state .

$indu La! : ?urpose of Law 7 6t should aim at the welfare of the people in this world and also from

salvation after death.

Mohammedean La! : ?urpose of Law is the 5iscipline of the soul the improvement of morals and the

preservation of life property and reputation .

Sir A*dur Rahim :"The end of law is to promote the welfare of man both individually and socially not

merely in respect of life on this earth but also of future life

Salmond 2b$ect is @usticeLaw is those principles which are applied by the state in administration of

$ustice".

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&ustice'sed in !ider and Restricted sense

Wider sense 5'ppears to be roughly synonymous with moralityRestricted senseThe term refers to but one area of morality 7as in e+pressions: Aourts of @ustice"

natural $ustice" denial of $ustice" .

&ustice6erates at 2 /ifferent le-els 5istributive @ustice and corrective @ustice

/istri*uti-e &usti-e This wor!s to ensure a fair social benefits and burdens among the members of acommunity .6t serves to secure balance or e)uilibrium among the members of the society.

correcti-e &ustice The point at which the state of e)uilibrium is upset the corrective $ustice will move in to

correct the dise)uilibrium by compellsion.The function of courts is to apply $ustice in its corrective sense .

air and E7ual disensation of 8ustice demands more than e)uality 1- parties to individual law suits .6t

re)uires that all be e)ual before law .Legal rights which each each person has should be given e)ual

protection by the courts. 6n each case both the plaintiff and defendant should get an e)ual 9(rac% 6f

Whi: .@udges should mete out $ustice -12 fear and case should be treated not $ust regard the hearing but

also the finding .6n a fair legal system there are procedural or other rules which give each partty an e)ual

opportunity of presenting his case and calling evidence and to prevent $udicial pre$udice in favour of either.

Roscoe "ound Law is a species of social engineering whose function is to ma+imize the fulfillment of theinterestsBbodily security property reputation freedom of speech C of the community members and to

promote the smooth running of the machinery. B>ight to privacy 7nt recognized by /nglish law >econcilation of Aonflicts ?art of problem of $usticeC

0oal 6f La! (ot $ust $ustice (otion of law represents a basic conflict between 9 different needs:Need for

uniformity and Need for fle)i*ility

'niformity7(eeded partly to provide certainity and predictability.citizens plan activities in meaure of

some certainty and predict legal conse)uences .social order derives stability and security from uniformrules of lawfi+ed rules preferable in area of contract and property than other less certain rules.

le)i*ility7 *le+ibility enable law to adapt itself to the social change .6f law is unaltered the necessary

changes will come by revolution violence and upheavals.Law that is capable of adaptation whether bylegislation or $udicial development allows for peaceful change from time to time ..fle+ibility needed as the

e+isting rule may not provide for borderline case no rule can ma!e provision for evry possible case .

Therefore the *( of law is to sachieve stability and peaceful change in the society .

Ad-anta,es of La!

1;There are many advantages of fi+ed principles of law .They ro-ide uniformity and certainity to the

administration of 8ustice .6t re)uires that all be e)ual before the law .The legal system of country is put in

1- and thus all !now law of the land.This adds convienience and happiness of the people . -12 these

rules society becomes more and more complicated these help millions of people move with relative safety.

2;The e+istence of fi+ed principles of law a-oids the dan,ers of ar*itrary

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(icero : -e are the slaves of the law that we may be free:.

3; The fi+ed principles of law rotect the administration of 8ustice from theerrors of indi-idual8ud,ement.6n most cases the law on the sub$ect is clear and $udges are not e+pected to twist the same .They

are not e+pected to substitute their own opinion for the law of the country .& not to decide every caseaccording to what sees to them to be best .

Aristotle: To see! to be wiser than law is very thing which is by good laws forbidden

Salmond: The establishment of the law is the substitution of the opinion and conscience of the community

at large for those of the individuals to whom the $udicial functions are entrusted .The law is not alwayswise but on the whole and in the long run it is wiser than those who administer it."