BISHOP STUART UNIVERSITY

NAME: NUWAGIRA ALLAN

FACULTY: LAW

COURSE: ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

COURSE UNIT: INTRODUCING LAW

LECTURE: MS. HAAWA RUHWEZA

QUESTION
It has been generally argued that there is generally no specific definition of a term law and no

definition can be taken and considered perfect and conclusive. With reference to the different

schools of thought, discuss the fore going statement or discuss the above statement.
According to Black Law dictionary, law is defined as a set of rules or principles dealing with a

specific area of legal system. It is also clarified in its generic sense as a body of rules of action or

conduct prescribed by controlling authority and having binding legal force. Something which

must be followed by citizens subjected to sanctions or legal consequences is constituted to a

law.1

The term law is defined as a set of rules and regulations decided by a particular community or

authority meant for purposes of keeping peace and security of the society. Courts or police may

enforce this system of rules by sanctioning all law breakers through paying fines or any other

form of penalty including jail.2

Law is the legislative pronounciation of rules which should guide one’s actions in the society, the

aggregate of those rules and principles of conduct promulgated by the legislative authority or

established by local custom. Our laws are Devine or moral, the laws nature and human

experience as has been evolved by human intellect influenced by virtues of the age.

Law is a set of rules and regulations governing a given society. 3 For example, the constitution is

the supreme law for Uganda and has abiding force on all authorities and persons throughout

Uganda.4

Cultural institutions in which law is made and maintained for, it does not operate in vacuum and

it changes and grows with the changing needs of society. It is worth nothing that there is no

agreed definition of law, though there are identified characteristics of the laws.

1
Black’s Law dictionary, Abridged 6th edition, page612
2
Google simple.m.wikipedia.org
3
Barron’s law dictionary,6th edition, by STEVEN H. GIFIS, page 305
4
Article 2(1) of the 1995 constitution of the Republic of Uganda
 NATURAL SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

This is a universal, eternal and un changing law. It originates from God who is believed to be the

enforcer of this eternal and in changing law. Natural law is a God given and dictates of reasoning

which is habitual and continuous. It is based on idealism and abstract reasoning and it

encourages the principles of morality and justice. It emphasizes equality of all men and only

place God above them all as the law giver. Man can choose to obey or disobey natural laws.

The Ancient natural law. This was started with the Greek (Aristotle) and the Roman (Cicero)

scholars. The Roman Orator Cicero (who was largely influenced by Aristotle) in his book De

Republica, refers true law as right reason in agreement with natural.

This law is of the universal application and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands and

averts wrong doing by its prohibitions. This law was not repelable in part or entirely and man

could not run way from its obligations that God was the one promulgator of this law and its

enforcing judge.

The modern natural law

In the reformation period, the outlook of natural law somewhere with an increased emphasis on

the individual and free will as well as human liberty and rejection of the medieval concept of the

universal society in favor of the nation.

The protestants argued that the rule of un godly ruler could not be binding in the court of

conscience while the Thomist asserted that there could be no precept of civil law which is not a

precept of natural law; they argued that anyone who set aside natural law or divine law, was in

every case sinning against eternal law of God.5

5
Key issues to Jurisprudence, Omony John Paul, 1 st edition, law Africa, chapter 2, page 17
SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY OF LAW

This school of thought can be applied to the area of human geographical society.it is very vivid

that no human being can live in a situation or society where there are no relations since man

cannot be solitary. The idea of agreeing the contract is a process aimed at ending the state of

nature and to establish the state of society.

The modal suggests that it is proper to ask whether the agreement was or is voluntary in

character and whether therefore an individual can decide to withdraw either because he no longer

agrees or because the conditions which were understood in the agreement are not being

maintained.

Its major proponents were, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jacques Rousseau. These people

suggested how civil society comes about from a social contract among the people, though these

Jurist have used the theory to justify two opposed forms of government, that is Absolutism and

constitutionalism, some elements are common to their teachings.

POSITIVISM THEORY OF LAW

Positivism refers to a system of philosophy that postulates that our knowledge of matter is

derived only what we have experience of. It is also a state of being certain or every confident of

something. Knowledge is thus based on things that have been tested and verified by the senses

rather than idealism. Positivism entails the study of things as they are without regard to the

social, political and psychological background.

The primary idea of legal positivism lies in the deviation of positum emphasizing that the law is

something lay down and posited.

PURE THEORY OF LAW

This is a theory of positive law and as a theory; it is exclusively concerned with the accurate

definition of its subject matter.

It is concerned solely with the part of knowledge which deals with law excluding from such

knowledge everything which does not strictly belong to the subject matter law; it endeavors to

free the science of law from all foreign elements. This is its fundamental methodological

principles.

The pure theory of law as a specific science of law, considers legal norms not as natural realities

not as fact in conscious but as meaning. Contents consider facts only as content of legal norms

that is only as determined by the norms. Its problem is to discover the specific principles of

sphere of meaning.

REALISTIC MOVEMENT THEORY OF LAW

According to realists, the law is not really rules and directives but judicial behavior which legal

prepositions predict. The idea of law according to legal realism is essential the judicial process,

the focus is on judges and not legislators because according to legal realists, in the common law

system that characterize the Anglo America legal tradition, what judges give identifies to the

law. Legal realism is more concerned with the study of law makers, rather than the rules and that

therefore law is what the judges decide and not abstract legal rules. The realists share with

sociologists an interest in the effect of social conditions of law as well as effect of law on

society. In the extreme argument of legal realists, no rule can exist as law independently of the

courts. 6

6
Key issues to Jurisprudence, Omony John Paul, 1 st edition, page 72
HISTORICAL THEORY OF LAW

This believes that law is made from people according to their changing needs. Habits and

customs are the main sources of Historical school of jurisprudence.

With the changing needs and nature of persons, the law should be changed. The historical school

follows the concept of manmade laws. Law is formulated for the people and by the people means

that law should be according to the changing needs of the people and everyone understands their

own needs better than anyone else MARXIST THEORY SCHOOL OF LAW

Marxism can be taken to be a socioeconomic doctrine, a holistic philosophy, a physical method

of analysis or political ideology. The Marxist theory of law and the state are constituted from

writings of scholars beginning with Karl Marx as the basic theorist.

It is sufficient to note however, that Marx did not invent new concepts from which he developed

his theory, he partly applied a scientific approach to existing ideas, reconceptualised and gave

them new meaning and also turned them into revolutionary ideas.

Marx principally argues that in analyzing society, regard should be hard to the history and

material conditions of man, that history is dependent on material conditions.

He also stressed the concept of class in especially economic and political spheres above other

categories of social differentiation which in other African countries has been significant elements

of socio change. This includes ethnicity, gender, race and religion.

In Marxist thought the state like the law was an expression of the class relations. It arose as an

instrument of class domination with the rise of classes in society. In other words, there was no

state before the emergence of classes or socio differentiation.

Marx argued that the law is not provided equally yet there should be a uniformity of law,

according to article 21 of Ugandan constitution, all people are equal under the law but for

example in Uganda, this is practiced in contrary where by some people are granted bail while

others are not, this is especially with the ruling class people when are involved in scandals like

corruption and abuse of the office, these are easily gr\anted bail with exception of other people.7

According to Professor George W. K. L Kasozi, law is a rule supported by power pf those in

authority and governs the behavior of the members of the society. It may also be defined as the

set of rule of conduct determined and enforced by government in the general administration and

administration of justice as well as defining rights and duties of members of community.

He further says that if such rules are observed by both the rulers and the ruled, there is order in

the country and we can boldly say that there is a rule of order.8

Peter Mugambi, on defining law said that law is a set of rules made by the people in authority to

be followed by the subjects of a given state or jurisdiction. The law to him is a set of rules or

body of rules that govern human conduct.9

John Austine (1790-1859), writing in the province of Jurisprudence determined to define law as

a rule drowned for the guidance of an intelligent being by an intelligent being having power over

him. For him, law is the command of the sovereign. A sovereign is the person or the group of

persons who enjoy habitual obedience from the bulky of the given society while the sovereign is

himself or itself not in the habit of rendering obedience to anybody.10

7
Key issues to Jurisprudence, Omony John Paul, 1 st edition, law Africa, chapter 3, page 117
8
Introduction to the law of Lesotho, prof. Goerge W.K.L. Kasozi, ministry of justice, human rights and
Rehabilitation, volume 1, page 3
9
Introduction to law, Peter Mugambi, law Africa, page 1
10
Introduction to law, Dr. Khiddu Makubuya, Kampala law Reports, page 57
Principles of ethics or admitted anxious or what not, which may or may not coincide with the

decisions.11

Law should be clear to the people and should not be ambiguous. It should not be static but it

should be constant throughout the time12.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)

Aquinas defines law as a rule or measure of an action in virtue of which is led to perform certain

actions and restrained from the performance of others. It is nothing else other than a rational

ordering of things which the good promulgated by whoever is charged with the care of the

community.13

He categorized law into four sections: Lex aeterna, Lex devina, Lex naturalis and Lex humana.

The Lex aeterna that is eternal law which is God ‘s rational direction of all things created

through his Divine will and intellect is not constrained by time .He argues that this law is

revealed to us through right reasoning and not know it is to be without direction for instance we

get to reason when we read Holy scriptures particularly in Genesis 2:15 where we see God

putting Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden which reveal to us that every human being has the

right to own property ,it is more clarified in constitution of Republic of Uganda article 26(1) that

every person has a right to own property either individually or as a group.

According to St. Augustine; he says that there is no law unless it is just, so the validity of law

depends upon its justice but in human affairs a law is said to be just when it accords a right with

the rule of reason and the first role of reason is the natural law.14
11
IBID, page 60
12
Introduction to law, Dr. Khiddu, Makubuya, Kampala law Reports
13
Introduction to the law of Lesotho, prof. Goerge. W.K.L. Kasozi, ministry of justice, volume 1, page 3
14
Introduction to law, Dr. Khiddu Makubuya, page 57
For Anthony Brandney, defined the term law in his regard to mean a way of regulating

behaviors, deciding what can be done and cannot be done.15

Roscoe Pound propounded the view that law must serve a particular function in society and the

ultimate purpose of the law is social control. According to him, law is not merely a set of laws or

legal order, but it is the process of balancing conflicting social interests. He thus equates the

function of law to engineering and so gave birth to the concept of social engineering.16

Plato on talking about the law seeks about finding our reality for example law that governs the

environment or local government administration what do they have to do is finding out the

reality may be they do. The law that governs the environment may seek to protect an ideal

environment free from pollution of air, soil and water. This may be the reality the law seeks to

address.17

Lord Denning

This English judge takes a different view of law from other scholars, who looked at law as

ending itself and who see law as a series of commands issued by the sovereign telling people

what to do or who regard law as a piece of social engineering designed to keep the community.

15
IBID, page 61
16
Key issues in Jurisprudence, Omony John Paul, 1st edition, law Africa, page 125
17
The Grammarian Appolodorus of Athens, w.w.w. Law Teacher.com
REFERENCES

Black’s law dictionary, Abridged 6th edition

STEVEN.H. GIFIS, Barron’s law dictionary, 6th edition

A citizen’s handbook on law and administration of justice in Uganda

Dr. Khiddu Mukubuya introduction

Prof. George W.K.L. Kasozi, introduction to law of Lesotho

Holy Bible, Genesis 2:15