KSLU Solved Question Papers
Jurisprudence
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 5
2024 Aug Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 5 Jurisprudence 2024 Aug 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 2024 Aug examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2024 Aug examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2024 Aug 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/problem is compulsory from each Unit. (3) Figures to the right indicate marks. (4) Answer should be written either in English or Kannada completely.
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 meaning and scope of jurisprudence.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the meaning of the word and its different uses (Roman, English, American, French, and loose uses such as "medical jurisprudence"); the meaning in the strict sense, with definitions (Cicero, Austin, Salmond, Keeton, Pound); the scope, shown as the main fields jurisprudence covers (legal theory and schools, sources, legal concepts, administration of justice, liability, law and society, newer fields); how the scope has widened over time; two Indian decisions showing jurisprudence at work (Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja, 2014; Nilabati Behera v. State of Orissa, 1993); a conclusion.
The meaning of the word
The word comes from the Latin jurisprudentia, joining jus (law) and prudentia (knowledge or practical wisdom). Its meaning has changed with time and place.
- In Rome it meant the skill of the jurists who advised parties and judges on the law.
- In England it came to mean the general theory of law, as distinct from the rules of any one branch.
- In the United States the word is sometimes used for the law itself, as in "the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court".
- In France, "jurisprudence" means the body of judicial decisions, that is, case law.
- Loosely, it is joined to other subjects, as in "medical jurisprudence", which means the law relating to medicine.
The meaning in the strict sense
As a subject of study, jurisprudence means the science or philosophy of law: the study of the general principles that lie behind all legal rules.
- Cicero called it the philosophical aspect of the knowledge of law.
- Austin called it the philosophy of positive law.
- Salmond called it the science of the first principles of the civil law.
- Keeton called it the study and systematic arrangement of the general principles of law.
- Pound treated it as the science of law in its widest sense, including its working as a means of social control.
In plain words, jurisprudence asks the basic questions about law. What is law? Where does it come from? Why do people obey it? What do its key words mean? What should law be for?
The scope of jurisprudence
The scope is the range of topics the subject covers. These can be grouped into seven fields.
- Legal theory and schools. The nature and definition of law, and the natural law, analytical, historical, sociological and realist schools.
- Sources of law. Legislation, precedent and custom, and how each gains authority.
- Legal concepts. Rights and duties, persons, possession, ownership, property and obligations.
- Administration of justice. Civil and criminal justice, the functions of courts, and the theories of punishment.
- Liability. The conditions of civil and criminal liability, mens rea, negligence, and strict and vicarious liability.
- Law and society. The relation of law to morality, justice, the State and social change.
- Newer fields. Economic analysis of law, feminist legal theory and the study of how courts actually work.
How the scope has widened
In Austin's time the scope was narrow. Jurisprudence studied only positive law, as laid down by the sovereign, apart from morality and history. Later thinkers widened it.
- The historical school added the growth of law from custom.
- The sociological school added the working of law in society and the balancing of interests.
- The realists added the study of what judges actually do.
- Modern writers have added the rights of animals, the environment and future generations.
So the scope today is not fixed. It grows as society raises new questions about law.
Jurisprudence and other subjects
Because its scope is so wide, jurisprudence draws on other subjects. It borrows from ethics when it asks what law ought to be, and from history when it traces the growth of custom. It uses political science to study the State and sovereignty, and sociology to study law at work. Economics helps it ask whether a rule uses resources well. This is why Julius Stone called jurisprudence the lawyer's extraversion.
Jurisprudence at work in Indian decisions
A new field of rights. In Animal Welfare Board of India v. A. Nagaraja, (2014) 7 SCC 547, the Supreme Court considered jallikattu and bullock cart races in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. It read five internationally recognised freedoms of animals into the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960. It described the duty under article 51A(g), compassion for living creatures, as a magna carta of animal rights. The case shows jurisprudence extending the concepts of rights and duties to new subjects.
Liability of the State. In Nilabati Behera v. State of Orissa, AIR 1993 SC 1960, a young man died of injuries suffered in police custody. The Supreme Court awarded his mother compensation under article 32. It held that this was a public law remedy based on strict liability, to which sovereign immunity did not apply. The case shows the jurisprudence of liability and of the administration of justice shaping a new remedy.
Conclusion. Jurisprudence means the science or philosophy of law, though the word is also used for case law or for law generally. In the strict sense it studies the general principles behind all legal rules. Its scope covers legal theory, sources, legal concepts, the administration of justice, liability, and the relation of law to society. That scope has widened from Austin's narrow view and keeps growing. Nagaraja and Nilabati Behera show it shaping real decisions.
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