Main Examination Period 2019

LAW6021 Jurisprudence and Legal Theory

Duration: 3 hours plus 15 minutes reading time

YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO READ THE CONTENTS OF THIS QUESTION PAPER UNTIL
INSTRUCTED TO DO SO BY AN INVIGILATOR

Answer FOUR of the following FIFTEEN questions. You must

answer TWO questions from PART A and TWO questions from
PART B.
If you answer more questions than specified, only the first answers (up to the specified
number) will be marked. Cross out any answers that you do not wish to be marked.

Reading Time: During reading time, students may write on the examination question paper,
but NOT in the examination answer booklet.

Complete all rough workings in the answer book and cross through any work that is not to be
assessed.

Possession of unauthorised material at any time when under examination conditions is an

assessment offence and can lead to expulsion from QMUL. Check now to ensure you do not have
any notes, mobile phones, smartwatches or unauthorised electronic devices on your person. If you
do, raise your hand and give them to an invigilator immediately.

It is also an offence to have any writing of any kind on your person, including on your body. If you
are found to have hidden unauthorised material elsewhere, including toilets and cloakrooms it will
be treated as being found in your possession. Unauthorised material found on your mobile phone
or other electronic device will be considered the same as being in possession of paper notes. A
mobile phone that causes a disruption in the exam is also an assessment offence.

EXAM PAPERS MUST NOT BE REMOVED FROM THE EXAM ROOM

© Queen Mary University of London, 2019

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PART A

Question 1

‘Both the need for law, and its appropriate content, can be demonstrated through reason –
an exercise that forms part and parcel of a proper understanding of what law is.’

Discuss with reference to classical natural law theories.

Question 2

EITHER:

a) ‘In arguing that sovereignty is illimitable, Austin confuses political and legal
sovereignty.’

Discuss.

OR:

b) Does Austin offer us an appropriate basis for distinguishing law from other social
phenomena with which it is commonly confused? Give reasons for your answer.

Question 3

EITHER:

a) ‘Hart made an important contribution to jurisprudence with his concept of a critical

reflective attitude, which he used for instance to distinguish clearly between rule-
following and habit-conforming behaviour. However, he made a fatal mistake by
restricting its operation in practice only to the attitudes officials take to the secondary
rules.’

Discuss.

OR:

b) Is the union of primary and secondary rules an accurate, or even coherent, description
of a legal system? Give reasons for your answer.
LAW6021 (2019) Page 3

Question 4

EITHER:

a) ‘In order to give an objective description of the requirements of a legal system, one
needs to presuppose that its constitution is valid. This in turn requires one to
presuppose the basic norm (Grundnorm).’

Discuss whether this statement is correct, and, if so, whether it tells us anything
important about law.

OR:

b) ‘Syncretism confuses objective knowledge of the causes and effects of law with
objective knowledge of the existence of law as a system of interconnected norms.
Kelsen’s pure theory avoids this confusion.’

Discuss.

Question 5

EITHER:

a) ‘Law is more than a means to avoid social suicide. In its full focal meaning, its purpose
is the pursuit of the common good.’

Discuss this statement, drawing on Hart’s view of the minimum content of natural law,
and Finnis’ seven basic goods.

OR:

b) ‘Ruling through law offers respect for agency, fairness, some measure of freedom and
a reciprocity between rulers and ruled. These are moral values, and they instil a moral
value into law regardless of the purposes for which law is used.’

Discuss.

Turn Over
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Question 6

‘Law without rules is impossible. But so too is a world in which all legal decisions are
merely the application of rules. The US realists identified the reality that lies between
these two extremes.’

Discuss.

Question 7

EITHER:

a) ‘Understanding that law is authority allows us to think clearly about the distinction
between applying the law and making new law.’

Discuss.

OR:

b) ‘One of the key examples MacCormick used throughout his work – namely, the queue –
shows how he always sought to prioritise norm-users before norm-givers. He did so
both normatively and descriptively.’

Discuss.

Question 8

EITHER:

A) ‘More than anything, what we as citizens want and expect from our judges is that they
protect our rights, no matter how unpopular or even unrealistic this may be. Dworkin
was right to emphasise and defend the rights thesis.’

Discuss.

OR:

b) ‘Only law as integrity explains how law can evolve without legislative amendment.’

Discuss.
LAW6021 (2019) Page 5

Question 9

‘The form and content of law reflects the structure of society.’

Discuss this statement in light of the work of one or more of the following: Marx, Durkheim,
Weber, and Luhmann.

Turn Over
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PART B

Question 10

EITHER:

a) ‘Arguments from necessity are essential for establishing an adequate case for an
obligation to comply with the law, but they are not sufficient for it.’

Discuss.

OR:

b) ‘In a political community, the ultimate guardian of decency and civil liberties is an active
civil society, which can push back against efforts to mislead the public, to centralize and
to abuse power. That is why a right to civil disobedience must be recognized by any
legal and political system.’

Discuss.

Question 11

‘The rule of recognition in Germany from 1933 to 1945 was the ‘Fuhrer principle’:
everything directly or indirectly ordered by the Fuhrer was law. As such, law existed
throughout this period, and even within the extermination camps.’

Discuss.

Question 12

‘Imperialism is not simply of historical, but rather, of ontological interest: it is a crucial

element of the very being, the very character of international law.’ (Anghie)

Discuss.
LAW6021 (2019) Page 7

Question 13

EITHER:

a) ‘In the ideal society, there would be no need for Law. Utopia is inherently anarchist.’

Discuss.

OR:

b) ‘Human nature is such that any proposal for an ideal society will necessarily fail.’

Discuss.

Question 14

EITHER:

a) ‘When freedom of expression is regarded merely as a negative liberty, with the sole
correlative duty on government to impose no limitations on expression, it often is
actually counterproductive of the values which it is supposed to reflect.’

Discuss.

OR:

b) How convincing is the evidence supporting the observation that there is a new social
contract emerging? Give reasons for your answer.

Question 15

‘The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
consistently fails to either recognise or prevent genocide.’

Discuss with particular reference to the Rohingya genocide.

End of Paper