Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION TO LAW AND
THE LEGAL SYSTEM
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, 1.1 What is law?
• Poet W.H. Auden said, ‘The law is The Law’ and we tend to know it when we
see it. But it is a question that philosophers and legal theorists have expended
many pages in trying to answer.
• Prof. H.L.A. Hart in his work titled ‘The Concept of Law’ says that “few
questions concerning human society have been asked with such persistence
and answered by serious thinkers in so many diverse, strange and even
paradoxical ways as the question what is law?
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,• For Hart, there is a difficulty in answering the questions
because of what he calls ‘the three recurring issues’, namely,
• The relationship between law and morality.
• The relationship between law and rules.
• The relationship between law and coercive orders.
• According to Hart, unless and until there are answers to these
recurring questions the issue of what is law will continue.
Worldwide Access | Opportunity | International Standards
, According to Hart, unless and until there
are answers to these recurring questions
the issue of what is law will continue.
Law Morality
Coercive
Law
Orders
Law Rules
Worldwide Access | Opportunity | International Standards
INTRODUCTION TO LAW AND
THE LEGAL SYSTEM
Worldwide Access | Opportunity | International Standards
, 1.1 What is law?
• Poet W.H. Auden said, ‘The law is The Law’ and we tend to know it when we
see it. But it is a question that philosophers and legal theorists have expended
many pages in trying to answer.
• Prof. H.L.A. Hart in his work titled ‘The Concept of Law’ says that “few
questions concerning human society have been asked with such persistence
and answered by serious thinkers in so many diverse, strange and even
paradoxical ways as the question what is law?
Worldwide Access | Opportunity | International Standards
,• For Hart, there is a difficulty in answering the questions
because of what he calls ‘the three recurring issues’, namely,
• The relationship between law and morality.
• The relationship between law and rules.
• The relationship between law and coercive orders.
• According to Hart, unless and until there are answers to these
recurring questions the issue of what is law will continue.
Worldwide Access | Opportunity | International Standards
, According to Hart, unless and until there
are answers to these recurring questions
the issue of what is law will continue.
Law Morality
Coercive
Law
Orders
Law Rules
Worldwide Access | Opportunity | International Standards
