Cox’s Bazar International Universyty

Department of LAW
Program: L.L.B (Honours)

Course: Jurisprudence
Course Code: Law1201

Assignment On
An Overview on Schools of Jurisprudence

Submitted By: Submitted To:

Md. Omar Faruk

Ala Uddin Chowdhury
ID: 200130200537
Lacturer
Batch: 13th
Department of Law of Jurisprudence
CBIU Department of Law
CBIU

Submission Date:24-10-2020
 Schools Of Jurisprudence
The word jurisprudence is derived from the Latin phrase juris prudential. This mean
'knowledge of the law. Jurisprudence is the study of law, or the philosophy of law. It helps
us better understand the creation, application, and enforcement of laws. The followings are
the schools;1 Five main schools of Jurisprudence which are-

1. Philosophical school or Natural law

2. Analytical school
3. Historical school
4. Sociological school
5. Realist school

Philosophical school or Natural law school 2

Natural law is a philosophy of law that focuses on the laws of nature. This school of
jurisprudence represents the belief that there are inherent laws that are common to all
societies, whether or not they are written down or officially enacted.

This school of thought tells us that law is rational and reasonable. Natural law proposes
that laws are a logical progression from morals. Therefore, actions that are considered to
be morally wrong will be against the law. But also, actions that are considered to be
morally right can't truly and justly be against the law. Natural law exists regardless of what
laws are enacted.

Our Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights are both heavily based on natural
law. Thomas Jefferson even cited natural law on the Declaration of Independence, calling
it 'the laws of Nature and of Nature's God.'
 1. aqib Aslam, ‘Nature And Schools Of Jurisprudence An Overview’
<http://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-1952>

2. ‘Schools of Jurisprudence: Theories & Definitions’

https://study.com/academy/lesson/schools-of-jurisprudence-theories-
definitions.html

Analytical School 3

Analytical school is also known as the Austinian school since this approach is established
by John Austin. It is also called as an imperative school because it treats law as the
command of the sovereign. Dias terms this approach as “Positivism” as the subject-matter
of the school is positive law.

The analytical school gained prominence in the nineteenth century. The distinctive feature
of eighteenth-century juristic thought was Reason.

The Natural law school predominated of the juristic thought up to the beginning of the
eighteenth century. Principles of Natural law were considered supreme and according to
some writers, could override the man-made law.
Nature, reason, supernatural source, justice, utility were some of the bases from which
Natural Law was supposed to be derived. The analytical school was a reaction against the
airy assumptions of natural law.
 3. Shubhi_3014, ‘Analytical School of Jurisprudence’(August 23, 2018)
https://www.legalbites.in/analytical-school-jurisprudence

Historical School4

Historical school of jurisprudence believes that law is an outcome of a long historical

development of the society because it originates from the social custom, conventions
religious principles, economic needs and relations of the people.

According to this theory, the law is the product of the forces and influence of the past. Law
is based on the general consciousness of people. The consciousness started from the very
beginning of society.  There was no person like sovereign for the creation of law. Savigny,
Sir Henry Maine and Edmund Burke are the renowned jurists of this school.

Savigny is regarded as the founder of the historical school. He has given the Volksgeist
theory. According to this theory, the law is based upon the general will or free will of
common people. He says that law grows with the growth of Nations increases with it and
dies with the dissolution of the nations. In this way law is a national character. The
consciousness of people.

Historical jurists banished the ethical consideration from jurisprudence and rejected all
creative participation of judge and jurist or lawgivers in the making of law. They viewed
the law, not as principles of morals but principles of customary action. Historical school
emerged as a reaction to legal theories propounded by analytical positivists and the natural
law philosophers. Vico in Italy, Montesquieu in France, Burke in England and Hugo and
Herder in Germany started a new era in the development of legal theory and viewed the
law as the legacy of past and product of customs and traditions and beliefs prevalent in
different communities. They believed that law has biological growth.
In the last, the essence of Savigny’s Volksgeist theory was that a nation’s legal system is
greatly influenced by the historical culture and traditions of the people and the growth of
law is to be located in their popular acceptance.

4. Twinkle Rani, ‘Historical School of Jurisprudence’(September 4, 2018)

https://www.legalbites.in/Historical-school-jurisprudence/

Sociological School5

Sociological School of Jurisprudence studies and understands Law in relation to the

Society. This school takes Law as a Social Phenomenon and studies Law in action, as law
having an impact on the Society. Sociological School believes that there is a deep relation
between Law and Sociology.

Various Jurists have contributed in the development of Sociological School. In this Video
we will discuss the Contributions of Ehrlich, Roscoe Pound, Duguit, August Comte and
Rudolph Van Ihering.

The Founder of Sociological School is - August Comte

Father of Sociological School is - Roscoe Pound

and Father of Modern Sociological Jurisprudence is - Rudolf Van Ihering.

The exponents of this school lay greater stress on the functional aspect of law rather than
its abstract contents. They regard the law as a social institution essentially inter-linked with
their disciplines bearing a direct impact on society.

very individual has to observe these rules because he understands that only by following
these rules he can realize all his needs. The supporters of sociological school are of the
view that the state does not create the state does not create the laws but only formulates
so that social unity is preserved and social needs are satisfied. So laws did not come from
states but from society. The sanction behind the law is not the force of state but the
awareness on the part of the individual.

5. Priya, ‘Sociological School of Jurisprudence’ (Nov 14, 2018)

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzz933TjQH4>

Realist School

Judgements of the law are affected by a lot of human emotions. This school is known as
Realist School because the law is considered as a reality while looking at this school. This
school focuses on the judgements of the authority judges and their mind-set. This school is
based on the perspective of the lawyers and judges and the implementation of their thought
process. This school is an experience of justice for different humans and it considers the
perspectives of both the parties in a case as to what is their opinion on justice.6

In the other words, This school is known as 'realist' because it focuses on approach that
studies law as it is in the actual working and its effects ahead. This school rejects
traditional definition of law and also avoids any dogmatic formulation and fully
concentrates on decisions given by the courts.7

Llewellyn has said that realism or realist school is not a school of jurisprudence. Instead it
may be called as a Sociological Jurisprudence. Not only that, sometimes it is also called
‘left wing of the functional school’. There is a small difference among these two things in
one respect that they are little concerned with the ends of law. This school is known as
‘realist’ because it focuses on approach that studies law as it is in the actual working and
its effects ahead. This school rejects traditional definition of law and also avoids any
dogmatic formulation and fully concentrates on decisions given by the courts.7

Characteristics of Realist School:7

These are some of the points that are clearly mentioning about the characteristics of the
Realistic School or Realism Movement: –
  In actual sense, there is no realistic school. It is known as ‘realism’ that is actually a
movement which consists of thought and works in law.

 Realism means a conceptual thesis on law in chunks and as a means of some social
ends. It is implied in a particular society where changes are seen faster than the law.
 It also assumes a type of divorce which is temporary in nature of ‘is’ and ‘ought’ so as
to achieve the purpose of a study. It means all the purposes that are ethical in nature for the
observer must underline the law are ignored and are not at all allowed to blur the vision of
observer.
 It also creates a sense of distrust in the traditional legal values and also the concepts
designed so far as they appear to be described what either courts or common people are
actually doing.
 Lastly, it also focuses largely on the evaluations of any parts of law in respect to its effect.

finally, there are five schools of jurisprudence. Although the schools of the law have
largely tried to remove some of the shortcomings in the law making and procedures, there
has to be an analysis and a study to clear the claim of the purpose and rationale behind the
law. Moreover, the enactment of the laws must be looked accordingly to a practical
approach other than a theoretical aspect.

6. Advocate Mr. Ambransh Bhandari, ‘School of Jurisprudence’ (bnb legal May 3, 2020)
< https://bnblegal.com/article/schools-of-jurisprudence/>
7. Legal Desire, ‘Realist School of Jurisprudence’
(June 13, 2020) < https://legaldesire.com/realist-school-of-jurisprudence/>

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