Question

Law is what the court has decided in respect of any particular set of facts, prior to such a decision , the opinion of lawyer is only a guess and this cannot be treated as law unless the court so decides by its judicial pronouncement. Consider the above observation and find which of the statement is correct?

• A. Philosophy of Realist school.
• B. Law is to be found in social facts and not in formal source of law
• C. Certainty of law is a myth
• D. Both (a) and (c)

Hint:

Whenever a question emphasizes "what the court actually decides" or "what judges do in fact," immediately associate it with the Realist School of Jurisprudence.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question presents a specific jurisprudential viewpoint regarding the role of courts and the nature of law.
It asks us to identify which statements correctly describe or align with this observation.

Step 2: Key Concepts and Approach:
The observation asserts that law is not what is written in statutes but what the court actually decides.
It also states that before a court decision, any opinion is merely a guess, implying that legal certainty is non-existent.
This perspective aligns closely with the Legal Realist movement.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:

• Realist School Perspective: The American Realist School, led by jurists like Jerome Frank and Karl Llewellyn, focuses on the "law in action" rather than "law in books." They argue that the decisions of judges constitute the real law.

• Certainty of Law as a Myth: Jerome Frank, in his famous book "Law and the Modern Mind," argued that the certainty of law is a myth. He claimed that because human judges decide cases based on various subjective factors, the outcome can never be predicted with absolute certainty.

• Lawyer's Guess: Under the realist framework, a lawyer's prediction of a court's ruling is merely an educated guess. The rule does not become "law" until the judge applies it to a specific case.

• Evaluating Option B: Option B refers to the Sociological school (e.g., Eugen Ehrlich's "living law"), which is different from the specific court-centric realism described in the prompt.

• Synthesis: Therefore, the statements in both Option A and Option C are correct reflections of the observation.

Step 4: Final Answer:
The observation reflects both the philosophy of the Realist school and the belief that the certainty of law is a myth. Hence, Option D is the correct choice.