Legal Methods
Semester 1 · 14 topics in 5 units
Unit I 3 topics
- What is law? Definitions, the idea of law and legal realismWhy law is hard to define, the main definitions (Austin, Salmond, Holland, Kelsen, Savigny, Pound), the five approaches to the idea of law including legal realism, what the essence of law is, and how legal rules differ from moral precepts.6 min
- Is law necessary? Functions of the legal process and the areas where law keeps outThe arguments for and against the necessity of law, law as a means of curbing the evil passions of man, the essential functions of the legal process (including Llewellyn's law-jobs), and the private areas into which law does not, or should not, enter.6 min
- Sources of law: legislation, precedent and customFormal and material sources, legislation and precedent as the two main sources of modern Indian law, custom and the essentials of a valid custom, how a custom is transformed into law, and the minor sources.6 min
Unit II 2 topics
- Typical attributes of law and the legal process; kinds of sanctionThe attributes that mark a rule as law, authoritarian, authoritative and regulated sanctions, the nature of a legal system and the link between law and legal system, and how arbitration fits the attributes of law.6 min
- Legal rules and societyHow law and society shape each other, law as a follower and as a leader of social change, Pound's social engineering, the factors that impact law, and what happens when law diverges from the needs of the people, with Indian examples.5 min
Unit III 4 topics
- Divisions of law: Salmond's classification, public and private, civil and criminal, substantive and proceduralSalmond's eight kinds of law, the main divisions of the law of a State, crimes distinguished from civil wrongs, the classification of civil wrongs, criminal law in outline, and substantive and procedural law.5 min
- Hierarchy of civil and criminal courts in IndiaThe single integrated judiciary, the Supreme Court and High Courts, the civil court hierarchy in a district (with the Karnataka pattern), the classes of criminal courts under the BNSS and their sentencing powers, appeals, and why the hierarchy matters for precedent.5 min
- Using the law library: legal materials and how to find the lawPrimary and secondary legal materials, how a law library is arranged and used, the Constituent Assembly Debates, law reports and neutral citations, finding statutes on India Code, gazettes, reports of commissions, and why court judgments are a key legal material.5 min
- Methods of study: lectures, textbooks, the case method and technical termsHow a law student benefits from class lectures and textbooks, their comparative importance, the lecture, case, problem and seminar methods, how to read a textbook and take notes, and how to handle the technical terms and Latin maxims of law.5 min
Unit IV 2 topics
- Case law techniques: reading a judgment, ratio decidendi and obiter dictaThe parts of a judgment and how to brief a case, ratio decidendi and the methods of extracting it, obiter dicta, inductive and deductive reasoning with cases, Donoghue v. Stevenson as a worked example, and the circumstances that affect the binding force of a precedent.6 min
- Interpretation of statutes: an introduction to the rules, context and fringe meaningWhy statutes need interpretation, the difference between interpretation and construction, the literal, golden and mischief rules in outline with one Indian case each, the importance of context, and the core and fringe of a word's meaning.5 min
Unit V 3 topics
- Legal research: meaning, purposes, stages and methods of data collectionWhat research and legal research are, academic and legal research distinguished, doctrinal and empirical research, the research problem and hypothesis, the stages of a legal research project, and the interview, questionnaire and observation methods.5 min
- Answering examinations, working out problems and applying law to factsHow to prepare for and write law examination answers, the structure of essay and short-note answers, the problem method (issue, rule, application, conclusion), the process of applying law to facts by legal syllogism, and two worked problems.6 min
- Writing assignments, essays and dissertations; report writing, bibliography and citationHow to plan and write a law assignment or essay, the structure of a dissertation and the parts of a research report, footnotes and bibliography, how to cite Indian cases (neutral, SCC and AIR citations), statutes and secondary sources, and the rules against plagiarism.5 min