Henry Otto, age 14, of E1 Paso, Texas, for his question

WHAT IS JURISPRUDENCE?

Jurisprudence is knowledge of the law and its interpretation. It is, in effect, the science and philsoophy of law.

In ancient Rome the term jurisprudence was used for those who completely understood the law. Those who were so skilled in the law that they could decide a novel or doubtful case were called "juris prudentes " whether or not they were judges, and the body of law built up by their interpretation was called "juris prudentia."

The development of law by interpretation is akin to what English speaking peoples call "case" law    law arising from a body of decided cases. In France and Spain today, the term jurisprudence is still used in that sense.

The principal modern schools of jurisprudence are the natural law school, the analytical school the historical school, the comparative school and the sociological school.

The first three differ mainly in their views of the nature and origin of law and its relation to ethics. To the natural law jurist, law is antecedent to the state; to the analytical jurist, it is the creation of the state: and to the historical jurist, state and law are social products, developing side by side, each influencing the other.

To the natural law jurist, law is recognizable by pure reason; to the analytical jurist it is the command of the sovereign power; to the historical jurist, it is the formulated wisdom of men and women.

The comparative school represents a widening of the field of investigation.

The sociological school of jurisprudence is largely a product of the 20th Century. Its approach to the analysis of law differs from that of the other schools in that it is concerned less with the nature and origin of law than with its actual functions and end results. It seeks to view law within a broad social context rather than as an isolated phenomenon.

Jurisprudence, in addition to being the science or philosophy of law, is also a body or system of laws. In civil law, it is the decisions of courts.

A person who is jurisprudent is one who is versed in jurisprudence.

The proponents of sociological jurisprudence seek to view law within a broad social context rather than as an isolated phenomenon distinct from and independent of other means of social control. They are concerned with practical improvement of the legal system and feel that this can be achieved only if legislation and court adjudications take into account the findings of other branches of learning, particularly the social sciences.

The American jurist Roscoe Pound was a prominent figure in the school of sociological jurisprudence.

Included among the leading writers on comparative law was Oliver Wendell Homes