KSLU Solved Question Papers
Legal Methods
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 1
2022 Apr (70 marks) Examination
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Mumbai
B.B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 1 Legal Methods 2022 Apr (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 2022 Apr (70 marks) examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2022 Apr (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 2022 Apr (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 · 12 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.
Q1Explain the views of Natural Law school and sociological school about what is law.[10]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the question "what is law?" and why schools of jurisprudence answer it differently; Part A: the natural law school (meaning; Cicero, Aquinas, Locke, Blackstone; the maxim on unjust law; its influence in India, Maneka Gandhi); Part B: the sociological school (meaning; Ihering, Ehrlich, Duguit, Pound; law as social engineering; its influence in India, Bandhua Mukti Morcha); a comparison table; criticism of each; a conclusion.
Different answers to one question
Jurists have answered the question "what is law?" in different ways, depending on what they see as its source and its test of validity. The natural law school looks above human law to reason, nature or God. The sociological school looks around law, to the society in which it works.
Part A: The natural law school
Meaning. Natural law theory holds that there is a higher law, based on reason, nature or God, which human beings can discover by reason. Human law is true law only so far as it agrees with this higher law. Law and morality are therefore joined.
Main thinkers.
- Cicero, following the Stoics, described true law as right reason in agreement with nature, the same in Rome and in Athens and unchanging over time.
- Thomas Aquinas described four kinds of law: eternal, natural, divine and human. Human law is valid when it is derived from natural law.
- John Locke taught that people have natural rights to life, liberty and property, and that government exists to protect them.
- Blackstone wrote of the law of nature that "no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this".
What law is, for this school. Law is a rule of reason directed to the common good. An old maxim associated with Augustine and Aquinas says that an unjust law is no law at all.
Influence in India. The Constitution writes natural law values into positive law through the Fundamental Rights. In Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, (1978) 1 SCC 248, the Supreme Court held that procedure under Article 21 must be "right and just and fair" and not arbitrary, bringing natural justice into the reading of the Constitution.
Part B: The sociological school
Meaning. The sociological school studies law as a social fact. It asks not only what the rules say but how they work in society and what social purposes they serve. Law is seen as a means of meeting social needs and balancing the interests of people.
Main thinkers.
- Rudolf von Ihering saw law as a means to social ends. Law protects interests, and the purpose of law is to reconcile individual and social interests.
- Eugen Ehrlich spoke of the living law, the rules people actually follow in their daily life, as against the law in books. He taught that the centre of gravity of legal development lies in society itself, not in legislation or judicial decisions.
- Leon Duguit based law on social solidarity: the interdependence of people in society. Rules are law because they serve that solidarity.
- Roscoe Pound called law "a social institution to satisfy social wants". He described the task of law as "a continually more efficacious social engineering": balancing individual, public and social interests with the least friction and waste.
What law is, for this school. Law is a social institution, judged by how well it meets social needs, not merely by its source or its logic.
Influence in India. Indian courts have used law as social engineering. In Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, AIR 1984 SC 802, the Supreme Court acted on a letter about bonded labourers in stone quarries and directed their release and rehabilitation. It treated law as a tool to change social reality for the weak.
The two schools compared
| Point | Natural law school | Sociological school |
|---|---|---|
| Source of law | Reason, nature or God | Society and its needs |
| Test of a valid law | Agreement with justice and reason | Effectiveness in meeting social needs |
| Law and morality | Joined | Law studied as a social fact |
| Main thinkers | Cicero, Aquinas, Locke, Blackstone | Ihering, Ehrlich, Duguit, Pound |
| Key idea | Unjust law is no law | Law as social engineering; living law |
| Indian illustration | Maneka Gandhi | Bandhua Mukti Morcha |
Criticism
Natural law: "nature" and "reason" mean different things to different people, so the higher law is uncertain. Treating an unjust law as no law may threaten order.
Sociological school: it can blur law with every social norm. It gives little guidance on which interests should prevail, and it may underrate the authority of the statute itself.
Common ground
Both schools reject the view that law is only a command, whatever its content. Natural law asks whether law is just; the sociological school asks whether it works for society. Modern Indian constitutional law draws on both: it tests laws against justice and fundamental rights, and uses law to reform society.
Conclusion. The natural law school sees law as a rule of reason in harmony with a higher law, so an unjust law is no true law. Cicero, Aquinas, Locke and Blackstone taught this. The sociological school sees law as a social institution serving social needs, as Ihering, Ehrlich, Duguit and Pound taught. Pound's idea of social engineering is at its centre. Maneka Gandhi reflects the first and Bandhua Mukti Morcha the second.
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