Law Legal Studies · Civics Polity

Jurisprudence and Legal Theory

1,711 Questions

This hub offers a comprehensive set of questions on jurisudence, legal theories, and the sociology of law. Topics include social contract theory, legal positivism, and judicial review, which are vital for law entrance examinations. Review these explanations to strengthen your foundational legal reasoning skills.

Social contract theoryLegal positivismJudicial review argumentsCustomary law elementsRational choice theory

Jurisprudence and Legal Theory Questions

Multiple choice

According to Professor Goodhart, a ratio decidendi of a case is

  1. the principle of law laid down in a decision which is the decisive element

  2. the conclusion reached by the judge on the basis of the material facts of the case

  3. the reason given by the court for its decision

  4. any opinion of the court on a question of law
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

According to Professor Goodhart, a ratio decidendi of a case is the conclusion reached by the judge on the basis of the material facts.

Multiple choice

Match the following:

 
List – I List – II
a. Scienti non fit injuria i. Where there is remedy, there is a right.
b. Qui facit per alium facit per se ii. He who does an act through another is deemed in law to do it himself.
c. Ubi jus ibi remedium iii. No injury is done to one who knowingly does an act.
d. Ubi remedium ibi jus iv. Where there is wrong, there is remedy.

  1. a – iii, b – iv, c – i, d – ii

  2. a – iv, b – iii, c – ii, d – i

  3. a – iii, b – ii, c – iv, d – i

  4. a – i, b – ii, c – iii, d – iv
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

a – iii, b – ii, c – iv, d – i

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is correct?

  1. Laws consist of rules in accordance with reason and nature has formed the basis of imperative law.

  2. Natural law is a type of command.

  3. Law, according to positivist, is made through medium of courts.

  4. Hart talks in terms of conduct supplemented by an attitude of mind to the effect that the conduct in question is obligatory because it is required by rule.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Hart talks in terms of conduct supplemented by an attitude of mind to the effect that the conduct in question is obligatory because it is required by rule.

Multiple choice

Gandhiji was of the opinion that

  1. property is theft

  2. property belongs to individual

  3. property belongs to state

  4. property is a trust
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Gandhiji maintained that all property is a trust. He was of the opinion that all forms of property and human accomplishments are either gift of nature or the product of social living.

Multiple choice

What is analytical jurisprudence?

  1. The critical analysis of legal decisions

  2. A sociological method to analyse legal systems

  3. The study of what the law is

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Analytical jurisprudence is dedicated to establishing what the law is, not to assessing the value of a given law or identifying desirable reforms.

Multiple choice

Law, according to Joseph Raz, is a

  1. social engineering

  2. social fact

  3. political principle

  4. normative science
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

According to Joseph Raz, content of law must be based only on social facts, and not on moral arguments.

Multiple choice

What is jurisprudence?

  1. The study of legal decisions

  2. All intellectual enquiries about law

  3. The study of what law is

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Jurisprudence includes thinking about the value of the law, and is not only about how the law works or what the law is. As such jurisprudence can draw on other disciplines such as philosophy or economics.

Multiple choice

What is normative jurisprudence?

  1. The evaluation of the law on the basis of criteria for what constitutes good law

  2. The study of legal norms

  3. The theory that law normalises people

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Normative jurisprudence is concerned with the question of what the law ought to be, it is not normative in the sense that it studies norms or favours normalisation, but in the sense that it offers an interpretation of what the law ought to be.

Multiple choice

What is natural law?

  1. The law of natural pheonmena

  2. The idea that law is based on certain immutable principles intrinsic to human beings

  3. The idea that law is natural

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The philosophy of natural law does not see law as an emanation of nature, but as a social necessity which reflects universal principles grounded on the nature of human beings.

Multiple choice

What is positivism?

  1. The approach to the study of law according to which only laws posited by their rightful creators are valid

  2. The approach to the study of law according to which all moral, social or legal norms are part of law

  3. The approach to the study of law according to which only laws democratically enacted are valid

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Positivism studies law in the sense of norms produced by the people who are entitled to create them, irrespective of the democratic nature of the law-making institutions. Positivism does not look to social, historical, political or moral dimensions of the law.

Multiple choice

The nature of administrative law is rigid and streamlined.

  1. This statement is true.

  2. The general principles are well-settled, but their application depends necessarily on the totality of the circumstances and facts.

  3. Neither of the above statements is true.

  4. Both the statements are true.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The nature of administrative law is not rigid and streamlined, the general principles are well-settled, but their application depends necessarily on the totality of the circumstances and facts.