Jurisprudence Basics

A theory is not a source of a client’s rights

The law you apply in a problem is still the Constitution, the Act, or the judgment. points at the constitutional text. A case is read with . Finding those texts is . Jurisprudence asks a prior question: what kind of thing you think those texts are. That question can make an essay clearer. It cannot supply a section that the research did not find.

Three labels, stated modestly

Natural law, in the classroom sense, connects law with a moral standard, so that a wicked rule might be called not law at all. Positivism separates what the law is from what it ought to be, and looks to a social source such as a legislature or a recognised rule of recognition. Realism asks you to watch what decision-makers actually do, not only what the books say. Each label covers many writers who disagree with each other. This note will not put a sentence in a named philosopher’s mouth. If an essay needs a thinker, open that thinker’s book and cite the page you read.

How to use a school in an essay

Say which question you are answering: what law is, or what this statute requires. If it is the second, do the statute. If it is the first, name the school, state its claim in your own words, and mark what you have not read. Do not write “Austin says” unless the edition is open. Do not conclude that a statute is invalid because a theory dislikes it, unless a legal doctrine you have opened actually does that work.

A hypothetical about a theory as a weapon

Hypothetical. A student dislikes a municipal rule and writes that positivism is false, so the rule is not law. No text and no case are cited. The rewrite says a theory about the nature of law does not repeal a bye-law, the legal challenge would have to be a doctrine in the Constitution or the parent statute, and the philosopher’s name is omitted until the book is opened.

A checklist for a theory paragraph

Keep theory in its lane. 1. State the question. 2. If it is a rights or statute question, open the text. 3. If it is a theory question, name one school. 4. Use your own sentence for the claim. 5. Cite a thinker only from a page you read. 6. Do not invalidate a law by taste. 7. Separate the essay from the problem question.

Kanoons Academy does not currently list a separate LAWCET, CLAT, or AP LAWCET batch in the catalogue; these notes are study material, and counselling is via . The nearest catalogue course is . That course teaches how to read an Act, a rule, and a judgment note. It is not an entrance-test batch, and the button on this page uses the course’s own name.