Nature, Scope, Importance of Jurisprudence

• John Austin

Definition: “Jurisprudence is the philosophy of positive law, which is law as it is (as opposed to law as it ought to be).”

Focus: Austin’s approach is analytical, focusing on the command of the sovereign backed by sanctions.

• Jeremy Bentham

Definition: “Jurisprudence is the art or science of law.”

Focus: Art of Law: application of legal principles, judgment, and discretion in real-life situations.

Science of Law: systematic and analytical study of legal concepts, systems, and principles.

3. Salmond

Definition: ““Jurisprudence is the science of the first principles of civil law.

“First Principles”:refer to the basic, foundational concepts, justice, rights, duties, liabilities, and sovereignty.

“Civil Law”:all laws governing the relationships between individuals and the state in a society.

4. Hans Kelsen:

Definition: “”Jurisprudence is the pure theory of law.””

Focus: Kelsen excludes moral, social, and psychological aspects, concentrating purely on the normative structure of law.

5. H.L.A. Hart

Definition: “Jurisprudence is the analysis of the structure of legal systems”

Focus: Hart emphasizes the interplay between primary rules (governing behavior) and secondary rules (about rule-making, adjudication, and recognition).

6. Ulpian (Roman Jurist):

Definition: “Jurisprudence is the knowledge of things divine and human, the science of the just and the unjust.”

Focus: A broader philosophical view linking law to morality and justice.

7. Jullius Stone

Definition: “defines jurisprudence as a “lawyer’s extraversion.”

More Definitions:

https://previousnotes.com/index.php/2024/11/17/definition-of-jurisprudence-by-various-jurists/