The historical school of jurisprudence This school believes that the emergence of law is from the evolution of

social practices, intrinsically linked with customs, moral principles, spiritual codes, economic interests, and Rules of
etiquette. It argues that law is the fruitful outcome of the evolutionary process that society has gone through ever
since its origin and not just exists as an upshot of royal command or command of the sovereign in a trice. Here is the
subject that controverts the notion of the natural school of law, which argues that law originated from the command
of supreme power and has some divine references. Since being the product of the past, it resulted in historical
progression and developments. “The Historical school of Jurisprudence manifests the belief that like men has past so
does the law

This school of jurisprudence further holds that the law is based on the collective conscience of
mankind since the societal outset and rests upon the notion of laws are the established facts.

It counted the idea of manmade laws by agreeing on the fact that the law is dynamic, not static, and
evolves overtimes in accordance with the societal changes and needs. They substantiate it with the
principle of ‘Formulation of the law is for the people and by the people. Salmond considers the
historical school as, “That branch of legal philosophy which is termed historical jurisprudence is the
general portion of legal history.

This school is also known as the continental school of jurisprudence, as it relies on the customs and
beliefs of the people that vary over time but not on the commands of judges or any other superior
powers. The historical school of jurisprudence wholly rejected the definition of law propounded by
analytical jurists

Montesquieu - Montesquieu was a French judge, philosopher, politician and intellectual, who
researched and construed laws of various societies and concluded that the ‘law is the creation of the
climate, local situation, accident or imposture’. Hence, there is no point in arguing whether or not
the law is good since it depends on the social milieu. He further alluded that the law should be
dynamic as, like society, it changes in accordance with the needs and demands of the civilization

Savign y is regarded as a father of the Historical school. He argued that the coherent nature of the
legal system is the usually due to the failure to understand its history and origin. According to him,
the law is “ a product of times the germ of which like the germ of State, exists in the nature of men as
being made for society and which develops from this germ various forms, according to the
environing the influences which play upon it.”

Savigny believes that the law cannot be borrowed from outside. And the main source of law is the
consciousness of the people.

He was of the view that the law of the state grows with the strengthening of the state nationality and
law dies or fade away when nationality loosens its strength in the state.

Law as the product of ‘volkgeist’: In common parlance, volkgeist is the collective consciousness of
the people in a society. Generally, a specific set of people always resembles a particular genre of
culture, morals, beliefs, and intellectual conscience as a community or nation, later such traits and
customs of society form the legal bedrock, depends on which the future legal decisions will be made.
Thus, the sense volkgeist becomes the part and source of law.

Criticisms on Savigny’s theory, i. His idea of volkgeist was lambasted for its abstruseness. Firstly, he
argued that the law is the product of volkgeist, per contra, on the other side; he stated that Roman
principles have universal applicability.

ii. The concept of volkgeist only has limited applicability, but Savigny unjustifiably exaggerated its
scope to universal
Legal Realism Analytical and sociological schools are combined in the realist school of jurisprudence,
analytical which is the judgment delivered by judges in the court, and sociological because of the influence of
judges-made legislation on society.

John Chipman Gray (1839-1915) John Chipman Gray is regarded as one of the “founding fathers of the
realist movement” and is credited with inventing the term “realist.” According to Gray, the court, rather than the
legislature, is the most significant source of the law. According to him, a judge’s mentality and bias play a significant
impact in his decision-making. He laid the groundwork for a more critical approach that continued to emphasize the
role of non-logical variables in making judgments. According to Gray, the courts are the ones who give life to the
statue’s words.

Oliver Windell Homles (1841-1934) He made a point of stressing that the practice of law was a
combination of both experience and logic. Known for his “bad man’s theory,” Holmes saw law from the standpoint
of someone who would commit a crime. As he sees it, the law is for the criminals or the “bad man”. To evaluate
what the law really is, one should go to a bad person’s interpretation of it, since they will be able to accurately
calculate what the laws enable them to do and work within those bounds. His emphasis was on the practical and
empirical aspects of the law. The primary goal of studying legal history was for him to begin the process of re-
evaluating the value of laws that had been formed through time. There must be a clear separation between law and
ethics. Holmes’ vision of law put both court and professional lawyers at the center of the legal stage.

Jerome N. Frank (1889-1957) There are two kinds of realists, Frank said. While one group is skeptical of
legal standards ensuring consistency in the law, the other group is skeptical of the establishment of facts before the
trial court. Frank admitted that he belonged to the second group.

Frank focuses on the unpredictability of the legal system. He argues that rules and written law are based on the
false assumption that the law should be clear. He said that judges and practitioners should recognize the reality that
the law is ambiguous and should not rigorously stick to precedent and defined rules. He emphasized the necessity
of lawmaking by examining the facts of each case in light of the changing societal contexts .

Carl N. Llewellyn (1893-1962) The term “realism” refers to a shift in legal thinking and practice. When it
comes to this approach, legislation is seen as a tool for achieving social goals, and every aspect of the system must
be examined for its purpose and impact. Society’s view of the world changes more quickly than the law does.

Realists are skeptical of established legal principles and concepts. It focuses more on what the courts and individuals
are really doing. According to Realism, the law is defined as “a broad prediction of what the court will do

Drawback of the Realist School of Jurisprudence 1. Reduce the significance of legal texts and
jurisdictions. 2. Dispute the validity of the law’s binding power. 3. Customs are not taken into consideration. 4. The
importance of legislation enacted by judges has been overemphasized. 5. Realists have placed an excessive amount
of emphasis on litigation and the human aspect of the law, and they have been completely unaware of the vast
majority of the law that does not even come before the courts for judgment purposes, according to the critics.

Conclusion One of the most significant effects of the Industrial Revolution has been an increase in the need for
human contact. To achieve fairness, it was determined that a balance must be struck between the general well-
being of society and the preservation of individual liberty.