ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC- DEFINITION OF LAW AND ITS MERITS

SUBJECT- POLITICAL SCIENCE

ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTED TO

FACULTY OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW

For the Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement in

LL.B. (Hons.)- IV SEM (SECTION-B)

UNDER GUIDANCE OF: SUBMITTED BY:

Dr. D.C. Mishra Kavyanjali Singh

Faculty of Law Semester 4th, Section: B

University of Lucknow Roll number: 200013015089

FACULTY OF LAW
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW
LUCKNOW, U.P. 2021-22
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S.NO. TOPIC NAME PAGE NUMBER
1. Cover page. 1
2. Index. 2
3. Acknowledgement. 3
4. Introduction 4
5. Definitions of Law 4
6. Advantages of Law 5
7. Conclusion 8
8. Bibliography 9

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On this great occasion of successful completion of my assignment, I would like to extend my
heartfelt gratitude to all those who have helped in successfully completing this assignment.
The accomplishment and final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and
assistance from many people and I am extremely privileged to have gotten this all along the
completion of my project.
All that I have done is only due to such supervision and assistance and I would not forget to
thank them. I am extremely thankful of Dr. D.C. Mishra Sir, University of Lucknow who
helped me by providing the equipment that was necessary and vital, without which I would
not have been able to work effectively on this assignment.
I am especially indebted to, Prof. C.P.Singh, Honorable Dean of Law Faculty, University of
Lucknow, who have been supportive of my career goals and who worked actively to provide
me with the protected academic time to pursue those goals.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to my friends and parents, who stood by me
and encouraged me to work on this assignment. I am grateful to all of those with whom I
have had the pleasure to work during this.

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INTRODUCTION

In ordinary usage the term ―law‖ is applied to any principle that is fixed, or uniform, or
generally followed. It is often applied to the sequence of cause and effect observed in the
world of natural phenomena. Thus, we speak of the law of gravitation, or of falling bodies, or
of chemical reaction. The universe is ruled by a vast system of laws Which work inflexibly,
inviolably, and regardless of human will. Again, the term ―law‖ is applied to rules for the
guidance of human conduct. If these are concerned with motives and internal decisions of the
individual will, they are called moral laws. If they refer to outward acts, they may be either
social or political.

Social laws are expressed in custom, tradition, fashion, and common usage. They are
enforced by public opinion, and their violation is followed by ridicule or social disapproval
and ostracism. If they are the rules of particular associations, violation may be followed by
loss of membership in the association. Political laws are created and enforced by the authority
of the state, and their violation is followed by penalties politically determined and applied.

It is law in this latter sense alone, usually known as positive law, with which political science
deals. It considers law as a command issued by the state and enforced by its authority, a
general rule of external action enforced by a sovereign political authority.

Definitions of Law

The word ‗Law‘ has been derived from the Teutonic word ‗Lag, which means ‗definite‘. On
this basis Law can be defined as a definite rule of conduct and human relations. It also means
a uniform rule of conduct which is applicable equally to all the people of the State. Law
prescribes and regulates general conditions of human activity in the state.

1. “Law is the command of the sovereign.” “It is the command of the superior to an inferior
and force is the sanction behind Law.” — Austin

2. “A Law is a general rule of external behaviour enforced by a sovereign political

authority.” – Holland

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3. “the law may be defined as the body of principles recognized and applied by the state in
the administration of Justice.” – Salmond

4. ―the Law of the State or of any organized body of men is composed of the rules which the courts,
that is the judicial organ of the body lays down for the determination of legal rights and duties”- Gray

5. „The form of Guarantee of the conditions of life of society, assured by state‟s power of
constrain” - . Ihering.

6. “Law is social institution to satisfy social wants. He says law is a social engineering,
which means that law is a instrument to balance between the competing or conflicting
interests”- Dean Roscoe Pound

In simple words, Law is a definite rule of behaviour which is backed by the sovereign power
of the State. It is a general rule of human conduct in society which is made and enforced by
the government‘ Each Law is a binding and authoritative rule or value or decision. Its every
violation is punished by the state.

Advantages of Law
Jurists have expressed different views about the aim and performance of law. It‘s well-known
that law could be a dynamic concept which keeps on changing with time and place. It must
change with changes in society.
Law, in the modern sense, is considered not as an end in itself but is a means to an end. This
end is securing social justice, most theorists agree that law is an instrument of securing
justice.

Salmond noticed, “Law is a body of principles recognized and applied by the state in the
administration of justice”.

Hobbes and Locke recognized the positive role of law when they said that “The end of law is
not to abolish or restrain but to preserve or enlarge freedom and liberty
Kant said, ―the aim of the law is that the adjustment of one‘s freedom to those of other

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members of the community.

According to Holland the function of law is to confirm the well-being of society. Thus, it is
something more than an institution for the protection of an individual‘s rights.

The object of the law is to ensure justice. This justice may either be distributive or corrective.
Distributive justice seeks to ensure a fair distribution of social benefits and burden among the
members of the community. Corrective justice, on the other hand, seeks to remedy the wrong.

1. Uniformity and Certainty:

The first of the advantages of law is that it imparts uniformity and certainty to the
administration of justice. It is vitally important not only that judicial decisions should
be just, but also that people should be able, in most matters, to know beforehand the
decision to which the courts of justice will come.
It is often more important than a rule should be definite, certain, known and
permanent, than that it should be ideally just. The law is for certain and predetermined
and as such people can know beforehand their respective rights and liabilities and can
thus adjust their conduct in their relationship towards one another.
The more complex our society and civilization becomes, the more needful is its
regulation by law, and not by individual conscience and reasons, which vary from
time to time and place to place. The reason varies so much and changes so often that
uniformity and certainty of the law becomes impossibility. Law provides Uniformity
and certainty to the administration of justice. The same law has to be applied in all
cases. There can be no distinction between one case and another case if the facts are
the same.

2. Protection against arbitrary, biased and dishonest decisions:

The law is made for no particular person or for no individual case and so admits no
respect of persons, which is incompatible with justice. All are equal in the eye of law
irrespective of their ranks and position in society.
It is necessarily impartial. It does not show any particular favor to any man. None can
escape from the clutches of law. This principle of equality and impartiality prevents

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 the administration of justice from being corrupted. If the administration of Justice is
left completely to the individual discretion of a judge, improper motives and dishonest
opinions could affect the distribution of justice. Law as Fixed Principles of the law of
justice avoids the danger of arbitrary, biased and dishonest decisions.

3. Freedom from errors of individual judgment:

The fixed principles of law protect the administration of justice from the errors of
individual judgment. Commenting on this aspect of law, the Greek Philosopher
Aristotle observed that "to seek to be wiser than the law is the very thing which is by
good laws forbidden." This, in other words, means that "law is not always necessarily
wise but on the whole and in the long run it is wiser than those who administer it".
The law is not always wise, but on the whole and within the long term, it is wiser than
those who administer it. Aristotle observes: “To seek to be wiser than the laws is the
very thing which is, by good laws, forbidden”.
The law expresses the will and reason of the body politic, and claims by that title to
override the will and reason of the Judges and Magistrates.
Hence, the law reflects the opinion and conscience of the whole society; and the
Judges in giving effect to such opinion and conscience are saved from falling into
errors of their individual judgment.

4. Reliability:
There is another advantage of law is its reliability. It is more reliable than the
individual judgments of the Courts. The human mind is fallible and judges are no
exception. The wisdom of the legislature which represents the wisdom of the people is
safer and more reliable means of protection than the momentary fancy of the
individual judge.

5. Administration of Justice:
The fixed principles of alw protect the administration of justice from the errors of
individual judgment. In most cases, the law on the subject is clear and judges are not
expected to twist the same. They are not expected to substitute their own opinion for
the law of the country. Experience shows that people have lived happier lives when
they are ruled by the fixed principles of law than when there are no laws as such

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CONCLUSIONS
At last, I would like to conclude that as our country is democratic we have been provided
certain fundamental rights to every citizen and ensure that these rights should not be infringed
by anyone I even by the state. Right to Equality which is provided by our constitution is not
actually being properly enforced even after so much legal obligation related to it has been put
forward by our judicial system. Our judiciary along with the other two organs of state are
working very hard to maintain equality among all the citizens of our country then also until
the citizens are not aware of their rights it becomes very difficult to eradicate inequality. The
role of the citizens became very vital for the protection of their own rights.

Right to equality needed to be applied in a practical sense so that no one is deprived of their
rights. From Mahatma Gandhi to Bhim Rao Ambedkar everyone dream of the country where
there is no place of discrimination.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. legalservicesindia.com
2. law.uok.edu.in
3. vidhilegalpolicy.in