KSLU Solved Question Papers
Legal Methods
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 1
2021 Mar (70 marks) Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 1 Legal Methods 2021 Mar (70 marks) Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 2 November 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2021 Mar (70 marks) examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2021 Mar (70 marks) examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2021 Mar (70 marks) 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 2½ hours · Total marks 70 · 14 questions answered
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.
Q1Essence of law is the presence of institutionalised legal process for resolution of disputes. Explain.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the proposition and who made it (Alan Watson, The Nature of Law, 1977); what an institutionalised legal process is; why the process and its decision mark law off from morality, religion, custom and etiquette, with a table; support from Salmond, Holmes and Hart; how Indian law shows the point (CPC s.9 and s.11, Article 141, finality of a Lok Adalat award, recognition of custom by courts), with cases; the criticisms; a conclusion.
The proposition
Many rules guide human conduct: rules of morality, religion, custom, etiquette and the rules of clubs and families. Law is only one of them. The question is what makes a rule a rule of law.
Alan Watson, in The Nature of Law (1977), answered that law is not marked off by its content. Morality and religion also forbid killing and stealing. It is marked off by the presence of a legal process. This is an institutionalised way of resolving disputes, run by persons recognised for that task, whose decisions carry authority. In this sense the essence of law is the institutionalised legal process. The decision that process gives is what turns a rule into law in action.
What "institutionalised" means
A dispute-settling process is institutionalised when it has these features.
- A recognised forum. A court, tribunal or other body is accepted as the proper place to decide the dispute.
- Recognised officials. Judges or other deciders hold office under rules; they are not chosen by the parties for the occasion.
- Fixed procedure. Notice, hearing, evidence and reasons follow known rules, not the whim of the decider.
- An authoritative decision. The decision binds the parties, whether or not they agree with it.
- Enforcement. The decision can be carried out by the organised power of the State.
- Finality. Once decided, the dispute cannot be reopened at will, so it does not flare up again.
Why the process and its decision matter
Every rule is broken sometimes. What matters is what happens then.
- A breach of morality brings disapproval or a guilty conscience. Nobody has authority to decide, once and for all, whether the moral rule was broken.
- A breach of religious rules may bring a penance or the fear of divine punishment. Religious bodies may decide, but their decisions bind only believers who accept them.
- A breach of custom or etiquette brings ridicule, gossip or exclusion. There is no recognised forum, no fixed procedure and no organised enforcement.
- A breach of law can be taken before a court. The court hears both sides, decides with authority, and its decision is enforced.
So the decision is not an extra feature added to law. It is the point at which law shows its character. A rule that no recognised body will ever apply remains a moral or social rule, however strongly people feel about it.
Law and other rules compared
| Kind of rule | Who decides a breach? | Effect of the decision | Enforcement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morality | No recognised body | Personal judgment only | Conscience, opinion |
| Religion | Religious authority, for believers | Binds those who accept it | Spiritual sanctions |
| Custom and etiquette | Nobody in particular | None formally | Ridicule, exclusion |
| Law | Courts and tribunals | Binds the parties | The State's organised power |
Support from the jurists
- Salmond defined law as "the body of principles recognised and applied by the state in the administration of justice". The definition makes courts the test: a rule is law because courts apply it.
- Holmes, the American realist, wrote: "The prophecies of what the courts will do in fact, and nothing more pretentious, are what I mean by the law." Law, for him, is what the legal process will decide.
- H. L. A. Hart, in The Concept of Law (1961), said a developed legal system has secondary rules. These include rules of adjudication that set up courts and tell them how to decide. He saw these rules as the cure for the uncertainty and inefficiency of a society with only customary rules.
How Indian law shows the point
- A forum for every dispute. Section 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 lets civil courts try all suits of a civil nature unless their cognizance is barred.
- Finality. Section 11 of the CPC, res judicata, stops the same matter being fought again between the same parties. This keeps a decided dispute closed.
- Authority of decisions. Article 141 of the Constitution makes the law declared by the Supreme Court binding on all courts in India.
- A decision gives a settlement legal force. In P.T. Thomas v. Thomas Job, (2005) 6 SCC 478, a family dispute was settled before a Lok Adalat. The Supreme Court held that the award is deemed a decree and is final. A private compromise became law between the parties only through that institutional process.
- Custom becomes law through courts. A custom becomes enforceable law when a court recognises it on proof that it is ancient, certain, reasonable and continuous. The custom does not stop being a social practice; the court's recognition gives it legal force.
- Access to the process is itself a right. In Anita Kushwaha v. Pushap Sudan, (2016) 8 SCC 509, the Supreme Court held that access to justice is a fundamental right under Articles 14 and 21. The State must provide an effective forum that is near, speedy and affordable.
Criticisms
- Most law never reaches a court. People pay taxes, keep contracts and drive on the left without any dispute. Critics say law exists before and apart from the process. The answer is that it is the possibility of a decision that gives these rules their legal character.
- International law has courts, but their jurisdiction usually depends on the consent of States, and enforcement is weak. Yet most writers still call it law.
- Simple societies may settle disputes through elders and assemblies, not courts. Watson's test is wide enough to include these if the process is recognised and its decisions accepted.
- Content still matters. A process that decides unjustly does not command respect for long. In Zahira Habibulla H. Sheikh v. State of Gujarat, (2004) 4 SCC 158, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial because a trial that is not fair fails the accused, the victim and society.
Conclusion. The statement means that law is marked off from morality, religion, custom and etiquette by an institutionalised process that settles disputes with authority. That process has a recognised forum, recognised officials, fixed procedure, a binding decision, enforcement and finality. Salmond, Holmes and Hart all place courts at the centre of law. Indian law builds this in through CPC sections 9 and 11, Article 141 and the finality of Lok Adalat awards. Law exists before any dispute, but it is the legal process and its decision that give a rule the force of law.
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