JURISPRUDENCE

jurisprudence (joor-is-prood-<<schwa>>nts), n.1. Originally (in the 18th century), the study of the first principles of the law of nature, the civil law, and the law of nations. — Also termed jurisprudentia naturalis (joor-is-proo-den-shee-<<schwa>> nach-<<schwa>>-ray-lis).2. More modernly, the study of the general or fundamental elements of a particular legal system, as opposed to its practical and concrete details. 3. The study of legal systems in general. 4. Judicial precedents considered collectively. 5. In German literature, the whole of legal knowledge. 6. A system, body, or division of law. 7.CASELAW.

“Jurisprudence addresses the questions about law that an intelligent layperson of speculative bent — not a lawyer — might think particularly interesting. What is law? … Where does law come from? … Is law an autonomous discipline? … What is the purpose of law? … Is law a science, a humanity, or neither? … A practicing lawyer or a judge is apt to think questions of this sort at best

irrelevant to what he does, at worst naive, impractical, even childlike (how high is up?).” Richard A. Posner, The Problems of Jurisprudence 1 (1990).

analytical jurisprudence.A method of legal study that concentrates on the logical structure of

law, the meanings and uses of its concepts, and the formal terms and the modes of its operation.

censorial jurisprudence.See LAW REFORM. comparative jurisprudence.See COMPARATIVE LAW.

equity jurisprudence. 1. The legal science treating the rules, principles, and maxims that govern the decisions of a court of equity. 2.The cases and controversies that are considered proper subjects of equity. 3.The nature and form of the remedies that equity grants.

ethical jurisprudence.The branch of legal philosophy concerned with the law from the viewpoint of its ethical significance and adequacy. • This area of study brings together moral and legal philosophy. — Also termed (in German) Rechtsphilosophie; (in French) philosophie du droit.

expository jurisprudence.The scholarly exposition of the contents of an actual legal system as

it now exists or once existed. — Also termed systematic jurisprudence.

feminist jurisprudence.A branch of jurisprudence that examines the relationship between women and law, including the history of legal and social biases against women, the elimination of those biases in modern law, and the enhancement of women’s legal rights and recognition in society.

“The first published use of the phrase ‘feminist jurisprudence’ occurred in 1978 when Professor Ann Scales published an article called Toward a Feminist Jurisprudence. Feminist legal theory is diverse, and anything but monolithic. Many feminists believe that it is difficult to generalize about feminist jurisprudence. It is, however, possible to understand feminist legal theory as a reaction to the jurisprudence of modern legal scholars (primarily male scholars) who tend to see law as a process for interpreting and perpetuating a universal, gender-neutral public morality. Feminist legal scholars, despite their differences, appear united in claiming that ‘masculine’ jurisprudence of ‘all stripes’ fails to acknowledge, let alone respond to, the interests, values, fears, and harms experienced by women.” Gary Minda, Postmodern Legal Movements 129–30 (1995).

general jurisprudence. 1. The scholarly study of the fundamental elements of a given legal

system. — Also termed jurisprudentia generalis.

“The term ‘general jurisprudence’ involves the misleading suggestion that this branch of legal science is that which relates not to any single system of law, but to those conceptions and principles that are to be found in all developed legal systems, and which are therefore in this sense general. It is true that a great part of the matter with which it is concerned is common to all mature systems of law. All of these have the same essential nature and purposes, and therefore agree to a large extent in their first principles. But it is not because of universal reception that any principles pertain to the theory or philosophy of law. For this purpose such reception is neither sufficient nor necessary. Even if no system in the world save that of England recognised the legislative efficacy

of judicial precedents, the theory of case-law would none the less be a fit and proper subject of general jurisprudence. Jurisprudentia generalis is not the study of legal systems in general, but the study of the general or fundamental elements of a particular legal system.” John Salmond, Jurisprudence 3 n.(b) (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed. 1947).

2. The scholarly study of the law, legal theory, and legal systems generally. — Also termed jurisprudentia universalis; philosophy of law; legal philosophy.

“According to Austin (1790–1859), general jurisprudence is the study of the ‘principles, notions and distinctions’ common to the maturer systems of law.” Rupert Cross & J.W. Harris, Precedent in English Law 2 (4th ed. 1991).

historical jurisprudence.The branch of legal philosophy concerned with the history of the first principles and conceptions of a legal system, dealing with (1) the general principles governing the origin and development of law, and (2) the origin and development of the legal system’s first principles.

“Historical jurisprudence was a passive restraining mode of thought on legal subjects by way of reaction from the active creative thought of the era of philosophy. It was a reaction, too, from the confident disregard of traditional legal institutions and conditions of time and place which characterized the French Revolution. We were not ready for it in the fore part of the last century. But we accepted it eagerly toward the end of that century when it was already moribund in Europe.” Roscoe Pound, The Formative Era of American Law 113 (1938).

jurisprudence constante (k<<schwa>>n-stan-tee).Civil law.The doctrine that a court should give great weight to a rule of law that is accepted and applied in a long line of cases, and should not overrule or modify its own decisions unless clear error is shown and injustice will arise from continuation of a particular rule of law. • Civil-law courts are not bound by the common-law doctrine of stare decisis. But they do recognize the doctrine of jurisprudence constante, which is similar to stare decisis, one exception being that jurisprudence constante does not command strict adherence to a legal principle applied on one occasion in the past. Cf. STARE DECISIS. [Cases:

Courts 89. C.J.S. Courts §§ 139–140, 144–146, 161–164, 166–167.]

jurisprudence of conceptions.The extension of a maxim or definition, usu. to a logical extreme, with relentless disregard for the consequences. • The phrase appears to have been invented by Roscoe Pound. See Mechanical Jurisprudence, 8 Colum. L. Rev. 605, 608 (1908). normative jurisprudence.See NATURAL LAW(2).

particular jurisprudence.The scholarly study of the legal system within a particular

jurisdiction, the focus being on the fundamental assumptions of that system only.

positivist jurisprudence.A theory that denies validity to any law that is not derived from or sanctioned by a sovereign or some other determinate source. — Also termed positivistic jurisprudence.

sociological jurisprudence.A philosophical approach to law stressing the actual social effects of legal institutions, doctrines, and practices. • This influential approach was started by Roscoe

Pound in 1906 and became a precursor to legal realism. — Also termed sociology of law. See LEGAL REALISM.

systematic jurisprudence.See expository jurisprudence.

[Blacks Law 8th]