Savigny’s Conception of Law

Savigny is known as the Darwinian before Darwin and a sociologist before sociologists. It is
because according to Savigny, law is not an “artificial lifeless mechanical device”. Savigny
believed that law is closely connected with people and it closely contained the germs of
future sociological theory. Moreover, he considered the growth of law as a continuous and
unbreakable process bound by common cultural traditions and beliefs.

The core of Savigny’s thesis is to be found in his essay ‘On the Vocation’- Vom Beruf. He
said that the nature of any particular system of law was the reflection of the spirit of the
people who evolved it. “Law is the result of the genius of the people”. He advocated that law
has its source in the general or common or popular consciousness (Volkgeist) of the people
and as law grows into complexity, the common consciousness is represented by lawyers who
formulate legal principles.

The crucial weakness of Savigny’s approach was that he venerated past institutions
(traditions, customs etc.) without regard to their suitability to the present.