KSLU Solved Question Papers
Legal Methods
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 1
2022 Apr Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 1 Legal Methods 2022 Apr Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2022 Apr examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2022 Apr examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2022 Apr examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered
Instructions printed on the paper
- N.B. (1) Answer all five Units. (2) One essay type question and one short note is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks.
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1
Unit I
(a)Explain the idea of law and make a comparison between positive and natural law theories.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: Part A: the idea of law (rules of conduct, made or recognised by the State, binding and enforced; the two questions of what law is and what it ought to be). Part B: natural law theory (meaning, main thinkers, the maxim on unjust law). Part C: positive law theory (meaning, Bentham, Austin, Kelsen, Hart). Part D: a point-by-point comparison in a table; Indian illustrations (Gopalan and Maneka Gandhi); how the Constitution joins the two; a conclusion.
Part A: The idea of law
In its legal sense, law is a body of general rules of conduct that the State makes or recognises and enforces through its courts. Law tells people what they must do, what they must not do, and what they may do. It differs from morality and custom because it is backed by organised State power.
Jurists ask two different questions about law. The first is: what is the law? This asks about the rules actually in force. The second is: what ought the law to be? This asks whether those rules are just. Natural law theory and positive law theory give opposite answers about how these two questions are linked. That disagreement is the heart of the comparison.
Part B: Natural law theory
Meaning. Natural law theory holds that there is a higher law, based on reason, nature or God. Human beings can discover it by reason. Human law is valid only so far as it agrees with this higher law. On this view, law and morality are joined.
Main thinkers.
- The Stoics and Cicero. Cicero described true law as right reason in agreement with nature, the same in Rome and in Athens, and unchanging over time.
- Thomas Aquinas. In the thirteenth century, Aquinas described four kinds of law: eternal, natural, human and divine. Human law is valid when it is derived from natural law.
- John Locke. Locke taught that people have natural rights to life, liberty and property. Government exists to protect these rights. His ideas shaped later declarations of rights.
- Blackstone. Blackstone wrote of the law of nature that "no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this".
The maxim on unjust law. An old maxim, associated with Augustine and Aquinas, says that an unjust law is no law at all. A natural lawyer may therefore refuse to treat a grossly unjust rule as binding.
Part C: Positive law theory
Meaning. Positive law theory, or legal positivism, holds that law is what human authority has laid down, or "posited". A rule is law because of its source, not because of its moral merit. Law and morality are separate questions.
Main thinkers.
- Jeremy Bentham attacked natural law and natural rights as vague. He wanted clear laws made by a legislature and judged by their usefulness.
- John Austin defined law as a command of the sovereign backed by a sanction. He wrote: "The existence of a law is one thing: its merits or demerits are another thing."
- Hans Kelsen described law as a hierarchy of norms. Each norm is valid because a higher norm authorises it, up to a basic norm at the top.
- H.L.A. Hart, in The Concept of Law (1961), explained that a legal system has a rule of recognition. This rule tells officials which rules count as law.
The positivist view of unjust law. A positivist says an unjust law is still law, though it may be bad law that should be changed. The remedy is reform or resistance, not denial of its legal character.
Part D: The comparison
| Point | Natural law theory | Positive law theory |
|---|---|---|
| Source of law | Reason, nature or God | Human authority: sovereign, legislature, courts |
| What makes a rule valid | Agreement with justice | Proper source and procedure |
| Law and morality | Joined | Separate |
| Point | Natural law theory | Positive law theory |
|---|---|---|
| An unjust law | Not truly law | Still law, but bad law |
| Method | Moral reasoning | Study of rules as they are |
| Main thinkers | Cicero, Aquinas, Locke, Blackstone | Bentham, Austin, Kelsen, Hart |
| Strength | Gives a standard to judge and limit power | Gives clarity and certainty |
| Weakness | "Justice" is disputed and vague | May obey wicked laws without question |
Indian illustrations
A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, 1950 AIR 27. Gopalan was detained without trial under the Preventive Detention Act 1950. He argued that "procedure established by law" in Article 21 required a fair procedure. The majority took a positivist view. It held that "law" meant "State-made law", and the detention stood.
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, (1978) 1 SCC 248. Maneka Gandhi's passport was impounded without giving her a hearing. The Supreme Court held that the procedure under Article 21 must be "right and just and fair" and not arbitrary. This brought natural justice and fairness, ideas close to natural law, into the reading of the Constitution.
How the Constitution joins the two
The Indian Constitution is positive law: it was made by the Constituent Assembly and is enforced by courts. But it writes many natural law values into that positive law. The Fundamental Rights protect life, liberty and equality. Article 13(2) makes any law that takes away these rights void to that extent. So in India, a law must have both a proper source and respect for basic rights. The two theories are combined rather than opposed.
Conclusion. The idea of law covers both what the law is and what it ought to be. Natural law theory joins the two: an unjust rule is not true law. Positive law theory separates them: law is what proper authority lays down, whatever its merit. Natural law gives a standard of justice; positivism gives certainty. Gopalan reflects the positivist view and Maneka Gandhi the natural law influence. The Constitution unites both by making justice part of positive law.
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