DEFINITION OF LEGAL
METHOD
Legal method is made up of two words:
'legal' and method. the word 'legal' according to the Marrian Webster's dictionary
is something relating to law. It is also described as conforming to rules or
law. “Law” is a set of rules enforced
through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in
numerous ways. “Method”, on its part, is a systematic procedure, technique, or
mode of inquiry employed by or proper to a particular discipline of legal
method. It can also be defined as the study of the basic principles, nature,
sources, rule of law and the technique
of how law can be effectively applied
for the benefit of the individual and the society in general. Legal method is the
understanding and the use of professional procedure and techniques in interpreting
case law, status etc. It can also be
defined as the study of the way law
operates in the society and how lawyer, judges and legislatures think and do
thing according to the law so as to
achieve it objectives in the society.
NATURE OF LEGAL
METHOD
A fresh undergraduate law student must first understand that
legal method does not concern itself with principles, doctrines and rules
comprising a jurisdiction's substantive law
in a field. Rather, it does concern itself with the mythology employed, principally
by courts to create, elaborate and apply that substance. In this sense, you
could think of a mechanic and his tools in constructing a machine. The completed
product can be likened to the rule and its components are legal vocabulary,
concepts, definitions and principles. Thus, the workers tools and knowledge of
their use are analogous to method. The tools can be used to construct or dismantle,
to add on or downsize. According to Simon lee and Larry Fox, the course or
study of legal method can be used as the basis of a first year course or an
intensive introductory course in the first year to develop skills throughout a
five year course. Legal methods is an introduction to both the nature of the English
legal system and its sources and the techniques which lawyers use when handling
these sources. Studying legal method should be exciting, challenging and
rigorous. To fresh students however, it has the reputation of being boring and
mechanical.
Legal
methods is offered by first year students of law in the hope that it will introduce them to the idea of law which may appear strange to them. Legal
method is not a course that can be easily crammed or memorized and it should
not be crammed i.e. memorized but to be understood. If not, it will weaken the
foundation of the student’s legal education.
The study of law may be related to the study of a foreign language because it
proceeds in an orderly fashion. Students are not just introduced to the study
of law straight away. They, who are
just coming in to the university to study law
are not just introduced to specific laws like law of torts, company law,
law of evidence etc. but are to take
the course of legal methods which revolves around the study of basic
principles, nature, sources, role of law
and the methods of law can be
effectively applied for better understanding of the subject matter and this can
be compared to the study of foreign language in the sense that for one to learn
and understand, one has to start from the scratch of the rudiments. for instance,
in the case of English language, one starts learning from the alphabets and
then proceeds to learning of two to three letter words and to vocabularies and
then master the language to the extent of expressing oneself in that language
and such is the same with the study of law
by learning in an orderly fashion from the study of legal vocabularies, concepts,
definitions, principles, cases, statutes and from secondary materials to
primary materials. The study of legal method provides the basis for the study
of law and this marks its comparison
with the study of a foreign language.
IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL
METHODS
The
importance of the study of legal method cannot be overemphasized and importance
of this course will be discussed here.
The main importance of the course is
to provide a ground work on the fundamental concept of law. The course is aimed both at students with no previous
knowledge of law and those with minimal knowledge of law. The intention is that
at the end of the course, student will have the necessary conceptual tool to
deal with the law modules they will
be exposed to in their future engagement with the study of law.
The course is also to help students
understand the logic of law which is
captured in one of McLeod's introductory lines “legal methods when properly
understood is a creative process which provides a fascinating study in reasoning
and using language in order to achieve practical results”. And this is the
reason why the study of legal method should continue.
Legal methods is a course, which among
other things exposes students to the nature, language, technique and dynamics
of law in the early stage of their
academic life in order to lay a solid foundation for the proper understanding
and application of the various substantive principle and rules which they will
come across as they advance in the studies.
On the study of legal methods Prof
Peter Strauss from the Colombia law school in his book, legal method:
understanding cases and statutes (2nd ed.) opines that legal method
education start with the orientation to the material lawyer use and the
institution they deal with. Prof Strauss said that along the study of legal
methods, the skills, beginning with the use of cases, statutes and secondary
material in their decision are developed. Along the line, students encounter
not only the appellate opinions typical of law school teaching materials but lawyers’
arguments and briefs, considerable stretches of legislative history materials,
a good deal of secondary literature-largely excerpts bearing on the continuing
controversies over statutory interpretation .
Legal methods provide a lively
introduction to both the nature of the English legal system and its sources and
the techniques which lawyers use when handling those sources. It is in this that
has made the course popular for clear introduction to the subject of law.
With the study of legal methods, ideas
revolving around the creation of application are espoused. The processes of
making court application for hearing are learned in the study of legal method,
although it may not go deep into it but it gives knowledge of it.
Legal methods as an introductory
course for students who are starting a law programme will enable students
appreciate the origin of law, the various law theories or schools of thought,
the functions of law within the society and how to reason, write and make
decisions in line with the law.
The study of legal method lays a
foundation upon which other law subjects are built. With the study of legal
method, one is exposed to other law
subject like trust and equity, jurisprudence etc.
The study of this course enables one
to distinguish the method of social control through the law. It is in the study of legal method that one knows or become
aware that to have a political organized society, there must be a definitely be
some forms of prescribed legal system and social order.
The law is diverse but has territorial limitations. Thus the law of different countries around the
world differ from one another and are limited to the country that operates that
that particular law. For example, the
diversity of law can be seen in the
case of Nigeria and America. Nigerian law
is against abortion and homosexuality but the American law recognizes them and accept them as a way of life. Equally, the northern
part of Nigeria operates the Penal Code while the Criminal Code applies in the southern part. Without the
study of legal method in the university, the student will not be aware of this
as it is in the course of studying legal method that he gets to be aware of
these differences and diversities.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, there have been
attempts to produce a universally acceptable definition of law. Glanville Williams said the meaning of the word depends on the
context in which it is used. He had posited that, early customary law and municipal law were contexts where the word law was used with two different and irreconcilable meanings.
We
conclude by stating that legal method is the understanding and use of
professional procedure and techniques in interpreting case law, statutes. It
should be known that legal method as a course is adopted by universities throughout
the world and not only in Nigeria. With this in mind therefore, students should
not be discouraged or even attempt to memorize but to understand this course so
as to lay a proper foundation for their legal career. Legal methods provide a
lively introduction to both the nature of the English legal system and it
sources and the techniques which lawyer use when handling those sources. Thus,
legal method must be a popular course to those who want a clear introduction
into the study of law.
REFERENCES
Introduction
to Nigerian legal method by Abiola Saani
The
Merrian Webster dictionary
Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
Legal
pedia.com
The
conglomerate website
Learning
legal skills by Simon Lee and Larry Fox
Legal
methods understanding and using cases and statutes (2nd ed)
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