Jurisprudence and Legal Reasoning
Core concepts
Study natural law, legal positivism, realism, and critical approaches. Understand the relationship between law and morality, the concept of validity, and the rule of recognition. Legal reasoning covers deduction, analogy, precedent, statutory interpretation, and the canons of construction.
Traps
Questions test the difference between validity and morality. Positivism does not deny moral criticism of law. Precedent binds only where facts are materially similar. Statutory interpretation uses literal, golden, mischief, and purposive approaches; choose with reasons.
Worked example
A statute is silent on a new technology. Apply the mischief rule: identify the defect the statute intended to remedy, then interpret to suppress the mischief and advance the remedy. State the approach and justify it.
Rule of thumb
Identify the legal theory, the source of validity, and the reasoning method. Then apply the method transparently to the facts.