1.

WHAT IS LAW
2. CLASSIFICATION OF LAW
3. LAW & MORALITY
ALAW 100 The Legal System
 Examine what is meant by law, without the aid
of references, within one minute.
OBJECTIVES
In no more than 20 minutes, produce an
By the end of
illustration of the different types of law when
this session,
participants will given a worksheet on the classification of laws.
be able to:
Distinguish the views surrounding law &
morality when given a worksheet on Law &
Morality and other reading materials.
  THE LITERATURE IS EXTENSIVE
IN ITS QUEST TO DEFINE WHAT
LAW IS AND WHAT IT
CONSTITUTES.
WHAT IS
LAW?
 See definitions from course
manual/notes.
  The law may be defined as the body of principles recognised
and applied by the state in the administration of justice. In other
words, the law consists of the rules recognised and acted on by

SOME the courts of justice: SALMOND, Jurisprudence (1966)

DEFINITIONS  Those set of rules of conduct on which the existence of society

OF WHAT IS is based and violation of which tends to invalidate its existence.

LAW (1931) Essays in Jurisprudence - Goodhart

THERE ARE THREE RECURRENT ISSUES UNDERLYING THE SEARCH FOR
A DEFINITION OF LAW:

1. How does law differ from and how is it related to orders backed by threats?

2. How does legal obligation differ from moral obligation?

3. What are rules and to what extent is law an affair of rules?

  Does the law always command
individuals to do or not to do something?

LAW AS A  “Laws are commands set by a superior

COMMAND being to an inferior being and enforced
by sanctions i.e. punishment”: per John
Austin in the Province of
Jurisprudence Determined
  It does not take into account the variety of laws that may be
CRITICISM OF found in a modern legal system – not all laws order persons not
to do things.
JOHN AUSTIN’S
VIEWS OF LAWS
 SHARE EXAMPLES OF LAWS WHICH DO NOT
AS COMMANDS REGULATE A PERSON’S CONDUCT.
  LAWS GIVING POWER TO PRIVATE PERSONS TO
ENTER INTO CONTRACTS.
 POWER TO MAKE WILLS.
 LAWS THAT GIVE A TRIBUNAL POWER TO HEAR
EXAMPLES: CERTAIN MATTERS, FOR E.G. EMPLOYMENT CASES.
 LAWS THAT GIVE MINISTERS POWER TO MAKE LAWS.
 LAWS THAT GOVERN PROPERTY MATTERS.
 LAWS RELATING TO MARRIAGE
  Austin’s model more resembles the criminal
law; the criminal law is the type of law which
we either OBEY or DISOBEY. We commit
CRITICISMS ‘offences’ when we disobey or break the rules
OF AUSTIN’S laid down as laws. Criminal law therefore fits
MODEL into Austin’s framework of commands backed
by threats/sanctions.
  Some jurists (experts or writers in law) reject
Austin’s view that law is valid merely because
CRITICISMS it is the command of a sovereign (supreme
OF AUSTIN’S ruler/monarchy, state).

MODEL
 They believe that law may owe its validity to
feelings of “Natural Justice” or because it
embodies the desires of a community.
  Some theorists also question the sovereign that
supposedly issues these commands.
CRITICISMS
OF AUSTIN’S  They make the point that law has existed in
MODEL communities where there is no sovereign.

 Law made by judges through their decisions are

not commands of a sovereign.
 Austin’s theory does not accommodate International law.

International law is not backed by a sovereign, i.e. there is no

recognisable person or body that has the power to make law.
CRITICISMS
OF AUSTIN’S
MODEL –
INTERNATION States can only be brought before an international court if they
AL LAW consent and there is no effective and organized system of
sanctions; there is no way to enforce a decision of an
international court. (International law is therefore viewed by
some as not law)
HOW IS LAW
CLASSIFIED?

PRODUCE AN
ILLUSTRATION OF
THE DIFFERENT
TYPES OF LAW.
LAW & MORALITY
Take notes while watching
the following video.
 “Neither Professor Hart nor Justice Devlin
got it right in purporting approaches to the
issue of Law and Morality.”
Critically Analyse and Discuss the above
LAW &
MORALITY - proposition.
DISCUSSION
&

Explain the findings of one of the Judges

in the Gillick case.