sociological school

Sociological jurists look at how law actually works in society, not only at its logical structure. Roscoe Pound described law as “social engineering”: balancing competing interests (individual, public and social) so as to satisfy the maximum of wants with the minimum of friction. Eugen Ehrlich spoke of the “living law” that governs life outside courts; Duguit stressed social solidarity; Ihering described law as a means to social ends.

Indian courts often draw on this approach in public interest litigation and in reading Article 21 expansively. The school is criticised for vagueness about which interests should prevail.

Example

Pound's sociological school would ask whether a law on land ceilings balances individual and social interests with the least friction.

See also

legal realism · historical school · jurisprudence · natural law

Read more in the study notes

• The sociological school: Ihering, Ehrlich, Duguit and Pound (Jurisprudence)
• Theories of human rights (Human Rights Law and Practice)
• Theories of the judicial role, judicial creativity and judicial policy (Judicial and Legislative Process)
• Legal reasoning, the growth of law and the balance of stability and change (Judicial and Legislative Process)
• Law and public opinion (Judicial and Legislative Process)
• Law and social change: theories, models and the Indian experience (Law and Social Transformation in India)