Sociological School of Jurisprudence

Introduction:

The sociological school of jurisprudence provides the relationship between the society and law. As sociology means the study to help us understand the nature of human societies and human behavior and jurisprudence means the philosophy of law. This school of jurisprudence force on the theory that law is highly dependent on the structure of the society and the humans of the society. The concept of sociology was introduced by the French philosopher Auguste Comte, he believed in the theory that our society is similar to organisms and it can be developed by the guidance of science and thus he suggested to use of law as a guideline for the progression of society. Not only August Comte but many jurists like him accepted the principle that law and society are interlinked to each other.

Emergence of Sociological School of Jurisprudence

The main reason behind the establishment of the sociological school of jurisprudence is to determine a relationship between the society and law. This school describes the law as a social situation and has given more importance to the legal aspect of every change that occurred in the society. This main component of this school is to provide welfare to the societies and individuals This school suggested that there is a deep connection between the society and law. It states that each issue or a study has two areas.  In the relationship between the law and society one such area is the legal situation when the codified law decides what is wrong and what is right and the other area is when the changes in the society established the definition of right and wrong and that is the sociological aspect.

Legal and Sociological aspect of Child Marriage

For example the child marriage was abolished by the legal system of India but as the society understood the importance of education and children’s welfare the pratha of “ Bal Vivah” was rejected by a large section of the society that is the sociological aspect. But both the changes were interlinked to each other as when the child marriage was banned people started understanding the trauma it caused to children’s and when society realized the same it was banned by the legal system or legislature.

Legal and Sociological aspect of Sati-pratha

Similarly, in the “Sati pratha” where the widow was burnt alive with her dead husband was rejected firstly by the region of Calcutta which had a British indulgence at that time and later it was declared unlawful throughout the territory of India. This is what happened in the legal situation and the emergence of gender equality in India and the people got more sensitive towards the idea if women’s rights and feminism the inhumane pratha of the ancient Society cannot be accepted by the individual this is the sociological aspect.

Main Features and Characteristics of Sociological School of Jurisprudence

1. Firstly, this school Focus more on the legal aspects than the sociological aspect
2. The jurists of this school explained the law as rules and guidelines which helps in the functioning of the society.
3. This school also determines law as a dynamic institution which can adapt to changes and can be modified according to the needs of the society
4. This school of jurisprudence does not agree and rejects the concept of positivism.
5. This school Focuses mainly on the relationship between the individual and Society with law.

Emergence of Sociological School of Jurisprudence

This emergence of this school is related to the concept of “Laissez -faire”.  The meaning of laissez faire is that the government of a certain Society will restrict itself from interfering in the economic matters of the individual and society.  Laissez-faire is an independence given to the individuals and societies by the government to decide and resolve their economic matters. The societies with the concept of Laissez-faire do not allow interference of the government in the matters of the individual, the only responsibility of the government in this society is to provide Protection and ensure the welfare of the individual and the society.

Thus, the emergence of this school as a result to prove the theory of Laissez-faire unfairness that the individual interest should be dominant to general interest, on the other hand, Sociological school Focus on to make a balance between the interests of the individual and the interests of the society.

Jurists of the Sociological School of Jurisprudence

The main jurist of this school were:

• Montesquieu (1689-1755)
• Eugene Ehrlich (1862-1922)
• Leon Duguit (1859-1928)
• Roscoe pound (1870-1964)

The idea’s given by these jurists are the following:

Montesquieu

He was a French philosopher who believed that the codification of law is dependent on the structure of the society. Montesquieu also introduced history in the theory of the relationship between law and society. He explained that history plays an important role in the formation of the structure of Society and then according to the structure the law of that society gets influenced. He further elaborated on this concept in his book “The spirits of law”.

Eugene Ehrlich

He is believed to be the one who introduced the foundation of society and its relationship with the law. Eugene said the society provides the main idea for the formation of law. He believed that the society is the main source of law and not the legislature or the judiciary of the society.

 He stated that the reason behind the development of the society is neither the legislation of that society nor the people with the judicial knowledge but it is the Society only. He focused more on the society as a reason behind the progression and formation of law rather than the legislative system or the judicial system.

Roscoe Pound

Principles of Social Engineering by Roscoe pound.

Roscoe was an American citizen and an American author and philosopher. He urged people that law must be studied as it functions and not what is written in the books of law. He introduced the concept of social engineering where he analysis the similarity between the working of a lawyer and an engineer. He explained in the theory of the social engineering that like an engineer uses his scientific research and knowledge to make a new invention likewise a lawyer should use his social experience and knowledge of the law to provide maximum happiness to individuals with the minimum friction possible. He determined that each individual in the society has certain personal interests and those interests matters to him more than the interests of the whole Society and this results in conflict between the individual interest and the interests of the society and in those situations, the law comes to the rescue and strikes a balance between the interest of the individual and society.

Interest Theory by Roscoe Pound

Roscoe pound also introduced the concept of the Interest theory in which he talked about three kinds of interest that

Individual Interest: The Individual Interest in which an individual demands an interest in personality, his interest in the domestic life, etc.

 public Interest which describes the interests in the political life and the interest which an individual should have for the society he lives in. This interest involves that each individual has a right to use the opportunities which are available for the public at large.

social interest in which the interest of an Individual is a peaceful and secure life and society and Protection from unlawful activities and overall a general peace throughout the society.

Leon Duguit

He was a French scholar and he gave the idea of unity in the formation of law. He introduced the concept of social solidarity in determining the relationship between the law and society. He explained that each individual in the society is dependent on the other individuals for his survival. So, in his concept of social solidarity he tried to elaborated that for the survival of human life, it is important that there is a sense of unity and cooperation between the individual. He also determines some laws as bad laws because they did not promote unity between the individual. He also stated that it should be the responsibility of each individual of the society to promote unity and a sense of togetherness which means social solidarity because without it the human existence will be difficult. Like in India the directive principles of State policy in the Indian constitution talks about one law for all in article 44 of the Indian constitution that uniform civil code which promotes social solidarity.

Conclusion

This school of jurisprudence determines the importance and dependence of Society and the legal system. Without law, the existence of human societies will be similar to mere animal existence and nothing else. We can say that society and laws change and develop with each other. The changes in society result in the modification of laws and the dynamic nature of law resulted in changing the mindset of individuals of the society and thus the change of society. Likewise happened that after the increase in the cases of the Acid attacks in India there was a law passed by the supreme court of India for regulation on the sale of acid in India and also two sections were introduced in the Indian penal code (section 326 a and b) which particularly provided punishment for Acid attacks.

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References:

1. Anjali Dixit, Sociological school of jurisprudence, March 2020, Into Legal World, https://www.intolegalworld.com/LegalArticles?title=sociological-school-of-jurisprudence#:~:text=The%20Sociological%20school%20of%20Jurisprudence,a%20major%20impact%20on%20society.
2. Sourav Bhola, sociological school of jurisprudence, iPleaders https://blog.ipleaders.in/sociological-school-of-jurisprudence/
3. Manmeet Singh, sociological jurisprudence, legalservicesIndia.com http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/2190/Sociological-Jurisprudence.html