The Jurisprudential Schools: Their Main Doctrines and Points of Agreement

1
Legalsystemsreflect systematicinjustices (gender,classorracial); legalprinciplesmaskor legitimisetheseinjustices.

Schools Concerned with theStructure of Law

Legalsystemsdependon legalprofessionals,and theirjudgments,togive themcoherence. Lawconsistsofa distinctivesetofrulesthat haveauthorityand efficacy.

Weshouldlookcloselyatthedecisionmakingprocessesofthejudiciary:thisisthemost important,andpotentiallycontroversial,partofalegalsystem.

Legalsystemsdependuponaclassoftrainedprofessionalswhoareuniquelyequippedto distinguishlegalrulesfromnonlegalrules.

2
Laworiginatesin,andis validatedby,basicmoral principles.Lawsmust reflectmoralobligations. Lawhastobelinkedtothe moresthesharedvalues foundinasocietyor community. Lawaspirestobejust, obligatory,orreason giving,buttheseareideals thatcanneverberealised.

Schools Linking Law with Morality

Valuesarepriortopositivelaws(i.e.thelawsoftheland),andlawiseitherinvalidatedor ineffectiveifitdoesnotreflectsuchvalues.

Thereshouldbenoaspirationtouniversalityinalegalsystem.Valuesarelocaland particular,notuniversalandgeneral.

The Jurisprudential Schools: Their Main Doctrines and Points of Agreement

3
Lawisbestunderstoodas throughitsbehavioural andsymbolic manifestationsinour everydaylives.

Schools Concerned with Law in Context

Law,asitisnowcommonly understood,isintimately relatedtothemodern stateandmodern technology. Lawisamanifestationof thehistoryofasociety:its culture,ideologies,and materialcircumstances.

Lawisrelatedtoforce,particularlythemodernstate'smonopolyontheuseofviolence. Suchviolenceisgivenbothphysicalandsymbolicformsin,forexample,policing.

Wecannottreatlawasatranscendent,timeless,authority:itisthemanifestationof particularhistoricalcircumstances.

4
Lawmanifestsgender inequalitiesand entrenchesanideologyof 'natural'differences.

Other Disciplines with a Close Interest in Law

Lawmanifestsclass inequalitiesand entrenchesanideologyof individualisticrightsclaims.

Lawisbothamanifestation of,andcanbebetter organisedthrough, economicprinciples.

Lawisasiteofideologyandmasksobjectionableassumptionsaboutpersons,their interests,andtheirneeds.

Lawisamanifestationofeconomicrelationships;itsindependencefromothersocial practicesisoftenoverstated.