Jurisprudence MCQs for Law Aspirants: Solved High-Quality MCQs for Judiciary Prelims

A ready compilation of 100 Jurisprudence MCQs for ease and regularity of practice to enhance students' general understanding of the subject and boost their preparation by familiarising them with questions similar to the exam pattern of popular law and judiciary exams.

Q.1) "Jurisprudence is the scientific synthesis of the essential principles of law" was stated by:

[A] Holland

[B] Pound

[C] C.K. Allen

[D] Ihering

Q.2) Which of the following writers has divided jurisprudence into particular jurisprudence and general jurisprudence?

[A] Austin

[B] Bentham

[C] Holland

[D] Salmond

Q.3) A comparative method of study of law was introduced by:

[A] Savigny

[B] Maine

[C] Hart

[D] Kelsen

Q.4) Who said jurisprudence is the eye of law?

[A] Maine

[B] Savigny

[C] Pound

[D] Laski

Q.5) In the dark ages, natural law was given a new interpretation by:

[A] St. Augustine

[B] Thomas Aquinas

[C] Paul

[D] Ulpian

Q.6) Who propounded the concept of Grundnorm?

[A] Roscoe Pound

[B] Hans Kelsen

[C] John Austin

[D] Hart

Q.7) Out of the following jurists, whose theory of law has earned the name of "natural law with a variable content"?

[A] Thomas Aquinas

[B] John Locke

[C] Stammler

[D] Rawls

Q.8) That truth is right reason in agreement with nature was propagated by:

[A] Salmond

[B] Grotius

[C] Hart

[D] Cicero

Q.9) "A Theory of Justice" is the work of:

[A] Stammler

[B] Rawls

[C] Hall

[D] Morris

Q.10) Who among the following is considered an exponent of Utilitarianism?

[A] Hobbes

[B] Bentham

[C] David Hume

[D] Grotius

Q.11) "Natural law is based on the nature of man and on his inward need of living in society". Who said it?

[A] Hugo Grotius

[B] Hobbes

[C] Locke

[D] Rousseau

Q.12) Who categorized the subject of jurisprudence as expositorial jurisprudence and censorial jurisprudence?

[A] Holland

[B] Bentham

[C] Kelsen

[D] Paton

Q.13) Law is an instrument of:

[A] Social deviance

[B] Social change

[C] Social status

[D] Social exception

Q.14) Kelsen's theory of law is called pure theory because Kelsen:

[A] Purely discussed jurisprudence only

[B] Defined law in accordance with morality and purity

[C] Separated law from religion, ethics, sociology and history

[D] Discussed law purely in terms of justice

Q.15) The expression to signify an assumption which conceals or affects to conceal the fact that a rule of law has undergone alteration, its letter being unchanged, its operation being modified is:

[A] Legal Fiction

[B] Equity

[C] Custom

[D] Legislation

Q.16) Which school of jurisprudence believes that there are more important obligations, higher ideals, than obedience to the positive law of the state:

[A] Historical School

[B] Functional School

[C] Natural Law School

[D] Analytical School

Q.17) Criticizing Savigny's theory, who said that 'Savigny encouraged juristic pessimism'?

[A] Montesquieu

[B] Maine

[C] Allen

[D] Pound

Q.18) Savigny has observed that:
1. Custom precedes legislation.
2. Legislation must conform customary practices.
3. Custom is not important than legislation.
4. Custom is superior to legislation.

Select the best option:

[A] 2, 3 and 4

[B] 1, 3 and 4

[C] 1, 2 and 4

[D] 1, 2 and 3

Q.19) Law grows with the nation, increases with it, and dies with its dissolution and it is a characteristic of it. It is said by:

[A] Salmond

[B] Savigny

[C] Maine

[D] Buckland

Q.20) Who said "Possession is the embodiment of the will of the man"?

[A] Savigny

[B] Kant

[C] Ihering

[D] All of the above

Q.21) Indicate the correct meaning of the theory of 'social engineering' propounded by Roscoe Pound.

[A] Greatest happiness to greatest number of people

[B] Changes in the concept and function of State

[C] Balancing of competing interest in the society

[D] Law has its source in the general consciousness

Q.22) "The idea of social function 'crowds out' the conception of subjective right." Whose view is this?

[A] Kelsen

[B] Salmond

[C] Duguit

[D] Pound

Q.23) "Law is the sum of conditions of social life as secured by the power of the state through the means of external compulsion". This statement relates to which school of jurisprudence:

[A] Historical

[B] Analytical

[C] Realist

[D] Sociological

Q.24) According to Professor Goodhart, a ratio decidendi of a case is:

[A] The principle of law laid down in a decision which is the decisive element

[B] The conclusion reached by the judge on the basis of the material facts of the case

[C] The reason given by the court for its decision

[D] Any opinion of the court on the question of law

Q.25) Main pioneer of the sociological jurisprudence is :

[A] Montesquieu

[B] Hegel

[C] Henry Maine

[D] None of the above

Q.26) Which one of the following is correctly matched?

[A] Social contract is not a historical fact but a hypothetical construction of reason- Locke

[B] Law is the result of constant struggle- Duguit

[C] The Law of a community is to be found in social facts and not in formal sources of law- Ehrlich

[D] Law has its source in the general consciousness of the people (volksgeist)- Maine

Q.27) Assertion (A) - It is easy to identify sociological school with Pound.
Reason (R) - Sociological school neither begins nor ends with Pound.

[A] Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)

[B] Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)

[C] (A) is true, but (R) is false

[D] (A) is false, but (R) is true

Q.28) "Custom precedes legislation and hence is superior to it and the legislation must conform to the principles of custom." This principle is a basic feature of which school:

[A] Sociological

[B] Historical

[C] Analytical

[D] Natural

Q.29) What is utilitarianism?

[A] A philosophical approach according to which laws are valid only if they benefit the greater good

[B] The idea that all individuals should benefit equally from law's usefulness

[C] The idea that collective good prevails over individual rights

[D] All of the above

Q.30) How did Aristotle describe justice in restoring equality when this has been disturbed?

[A] Distributive Justice

[B] Corrective Justice

[C] Universal Justice

[D] Natural Justice

Q.31) When a state wants to delay the de jure recognition of any state, it May, in the first stage grant de facto recognition. Who said this?

[A] Oppenheim

[B] Schwarzenberger

[C] Kelson

[D] J. G. Starke

Q.32) The idea of obligation lies at the heart of a rule and people obey law due to a sense of obligation, and not because of a habit of obedience. Who among the following is well-known for this statement?

[A] Salmond

[B] Gray

[C] Hart

[D] Kelsen

Q.33) Which of the following is not ‘law properly so called’ according to Austin?

[A] Indian Penal Code

[B] Constitution of India

[C] Copyright Act

[D] NDPS Act

Q.34) The Hart-Fuller Debate discussed:

[A] Validity of Nazi Laws

[B] Morality of Hiroshima/Nagasaki Bombings

[C] Morality of the Holocaust

[D] Law making in the Federation

Q.35) The positivist school postulates that:

[A] Law and Morality are synonymous

[B] Law and Morality are necessarily interconnected

[C] Law and Morality are not necessarily interconnected

[D] None of the above

Q.36) According to natural law theory:

[A] An unjust law is not law

[B] An unjust law is not good law

[C] An unjust law should not be obeyed

[D] An unjust law is law

Q.37) Which of the following is most anti-consequentialist?

[A] Exclusive Positivism

[B] Inclusive Positivism

[C] Critical Legal Theory

[D] Utilitarianism

Q.38) Grundnorm is a concept related to:

[A] Karl Savigny

[B] Roberta Unger

[C] Hans Kelsen

[D] Joseph Raj

Q.39) A basic premise of natural law theory is:

[A] Existence of objective moral principles

[B] A code of conduct being the essential nature of the universe

[C] No human being is above the Law

[D] All of the above

Q.40) Who supported the absolute power of the sovereign on authoritarian grounds?

[A] Bentham

[B] Austin

[C] Dicey

[D] Hobbes

Q.41) The Delhi High Court in Naz Foundation case supported which of the following relationships between law and morality?

[A] Enforcement of public morality is subject to fundamental rights

[B] Criminal law can enforce public morality

[C] Criminal law must enforce public morality

[D] Constitutional morality requires the enforcement of public morality

Q.42) Which of the following is a compilation of John Austin’s lectures?

[A] Prerogative of state explained

[B] Province of Jurisprudence Determined

[C] Providence of Jurisprudence

[D] Provinciality of law

Q.43) Which of these is not a source of law?

[A] Custom

[B] Legislation

[C] Precedents

[D] Foreign Statute

Q.44) Which of these statements is true of utilitarianism?

[A] The principle of utility is the criterion of morality

[B] There is a divide between public and private domains

[C] State can regulate only egregious wrongs

[D] Only minimal state is moral

Q.45) ‘Oliver Wendell Holmes’ famous ‘Bad man theory of law’ is accepted as valid by:

[A] Critical legal theory

[B] Critical race theory

[C] American legal realism

[D] Scandinavian realism

Q.46) Which of the following is not one of Fuller’s desiderata?

[A] Minimal retrospectively

[B] Generality

[C] Specificity

[D] Understandability

Q.47) Who wrote the essay "Vom Beruf" in 1814?

[A] Thibaut

[B] Savigny

[C] Hegel

[D] Puchta

Q.48) Sociological School studies:

[A] Effect of law on morality

[B] Effect of law on religion

[C] Effect of law on society

[D] Effect of law on international order

Q.49) In which one of the following cases, the court pierced the veil of the corporate personality?

[A] Solomon v. Solomon case

[B] Smith, Stone and Knight's case

[C] Daimler Company v. Continental Tyre Co. case

[D] People's Pleasure Park Co. v. Rohleder case

Q.50) The social contract theory explains:

[A] Source of Law

[B] Consequences of unorganized society

[C] Origin of state

[D] Customary law

Q.51) Cicero’s conception of natural law is based on the idea that 'true law is right reason in agreement with nature.' Reason is key element because:

[A] It is a sin for humans not to apply reason

[B] The principles of natural law are discoverable by reason

[C] Natural law does not apply without good reason

[D] The law of nature is the basis of all positive law

Q.52) According to Hobbes, 'peace is the first law of nature' because of which of the following situation:

[A] Without peace everyone has a right to everything including another’s life

[B] Peace is possible only after war

[C] Law cannot achieve peace

[D] Social contract cannot be entered into unless there is peace

Q.53) In law, there is a fiction that a child, en ventere sa mere is a person in being for the purpose of:

[A] Punishment for abortion

[B] Acquisition of property

[C] Creation of partnership

[D] Claiming compensation of Torts

Q.54) Hume’s attack on natural law is founded on his argument that:

[A] We cannot objectively know what is morally right or wrong

[B] Natural law is backward looking

[C] There is no such thing as a social contract

[D] Natural law fails to protect the state against attacks

Q.55) Acquisition of 'res nullius' is:

[A] Original acquisition of ownership

[B] Derivative acquisition of ownership

[C] Mere custody of the thing

[D] Accessory acquisition of ownership

Q.56) Ownership consists of:

[A] Material object

[B] Personal rights

[C] Rights in rem

[D] Right in personam

Q.57) "A judge is sworn to determine, not according to his own private judgment, but according to the known laws and customs of the land, not delegated to pronounce a new law, but to maintain and explain the old one." The statement was given by:

[A] Bentham

[B] Blackstone

[C] Gray

[D] Salmond

Q.58) Which of the following statements best captures the nature of Fuller’s inner morality of law?

[A] Positivist view of Law

[B] Morality of Aspiration

[C] Aquinian Concept of Natural Law

[D] A rejection of the 'harm principle'

Q.59) Which proposition below may be characterized as the most powerful refutation of lord Devlin’s argument by Hart?

[A] Society has no right to preserve its moral and social cohesion through the criminal law

[B] Homosexual acts cause public outrage

[C] The courts are the best place to resolve moral questions such as those concerning homosexuality and prostitution

[D] The law is anachronistic

Q.60) The United States Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade is highly controversial. It was related to :

[A] Rights of father

[B] Law relating to abortion

[C] Woman’s right to privacy

[D] Medical evidence in murder

Q.61) Which statement below is the least consistent with the argument that judges in an unjust legal system ought to resign?

[A] Judges are under a duty to act justly

[B] Since they also prop up the unjust system, lawyers should also resign

[C] If a moral judge resigns, he or she may be replaced by a less moral judge

[D] Judges do not make the law hence they cannot be held responsible for applying unjust legislation

Q.62) Which of the following is the strongest argument against ethical relativism's hostility to human rights?

[A] Utilitarianism

[B] Communitarians

[C] Positivism

[D] None of the above

Q.63) Who defined jurisprudence as the knowledge of things divine and human, the science of just and unjust?

[A] Salmond

[B] Ulpian

[C] Austin

[D] Holland

Q.64) Which proposition below is the most inconsistent with Mill’s statement that any suppression of speech is an assumption of infallibility and that only by the unrestricted circulation of ideas can the truth be discovered?

[A] Freedom of speech is a social good

[B] Truth is an objectively ascertainable value

[C] Reason generally prevails

[D] Speech may be suppressed only when it is immoral

Q.65) Right in rem is right against which one of the following?

[A] Police brutality

[B] An individual

[C] Everyone

[D] Government

Q.66) Posner’s economic analysis of law is roundly attacked by Dworkin who says that the theory has not achieved the beginning of a beginning. What is the basis of this criticism?

[A] Posner’s approach fails to offer a means by which to calculate individual prosperity

[B] It neglects the importance of individual choice

[C] It regards wealth as a value, which it is not

[D] The theory is economically unsound

Q.67) If the jural correlative of "Right" is "Duty", then the co-relative of "Liberty" is:

[A] Power

[B] Disability

[C] Liability

[D] No right

Q.68) Which of the following elements is essential for a practice to become a custom?

[A] Jus cogens

[B] Pacta sunt servanda

[C] Opinio juris sive necessitatis

[D] Rebus sic stantibus

Q.69) Statutes are "source of law … not parts of the law itself." This statement is made by:

[A] Austin

[B] Savigny

[C] Gray

[D] Pound

Q.70) According to Hart, law is the union of primary and secondary rules which one of the following is not one of the secondary rules?

[A] Rules of Recognition

[B] Rules of Change

[C] Rules of Adjudication

[D] Rules of Interpretation

Q.71) Who said that the movement of progressive societies has hitherto been from status to contract?

[A] Von Savigny

[B] Puchta

[C] Hegel

[D] Henry Maine

Q.72) X has transferred his property in favour of Y. X has exercised his:

[A] Liberty

[B] Right

[C] Power

[D] Authority

Q.73) Negligence essentially consists in mental attitude of undue indifference with respect to one’s conduct and its consequences. This statement represents:

[A] Objective Theory

[B] Subjective Theory

[C] Organic Theory

[D] Psychological Theory

Q.74) Who has propounded social contract theory in terms of general will?

[A] Hobbes

[B] Locke

[C] Rousseau

[D] Montesquieu

Q.75) Volksgeist is associated with:

[A] Hegel

[B] Savigny

[C] Plato

[D] Kant

Q.76) Who said that the end of law should be to satisfy a maximum of wants with a minimum of friction and waste?

[A] Fuller

[B] Pound

[C] Ihering

[D] Duguit

Q.77) According to Salmond, malice in law means:

[A] An act done with ill will or spite

[B] An act done out of jealousy and prejudice

[C] An act done with wrongful intention

[D] An act done out of revenge

Q.78) Who among the following is the associated with interest theory of rights?

[A] Holmes

[B] Norman

[C] Bentham

[D] None of the above

Q.79) Which one of the following schools gave birth to the concept of 'Human Rights'?

[A] Historical School

[B] Natural Law School

[C] Realist School

[D] Sociological School

Q.80) Who wrote "Taking Rights Seriously"?

[A] Fuller

[B] Ronald Dworkin

[C] Joseph Raj

[D] Dennis Lloyd

Q.81) Who has defined jurisprudence as lawyers extraversion?

[A] Friedman

[B] Dias

[C] Julius Stone

[D] Dworkin

Q.82) Who is known as the founder of the Historical School of Jurisprudence?

[A] Edmund Burke

[B] Friedrich Savigny

[C] Julius Stone

[D] Sir Henry Maine

Q.83) Which of the following is not an essential element of states?

[A] Territory

[B] Population

[C] Sovereignty

[D] Democracy

Q.84) A distinction between static and progressive societies was drawn by:

[A] Pound

[B] Hart

[C] Savigny

[D] Maine

Q.85) According to Hindu legal theory, what are the sources of law?

[A] Smritis

[B] Shrutis

[C] Puranas

[D] All of the above

Q.86) To which of the following jurisprudential approaches/schools of thought does the work of John Rawls could best be described to fall in?

[A] Postmodernism

[B] Liberal Positivism

[C] Legal Positivism

[D] Race Theory

Q.87) The two primary and essential function of the state are:

[A] Military defence and maintenance of law and order

[B] Administration of Politics

[C] Administration of Justice and Welfare

[D] Welfare and Safety of People

Q.88) The _________ School of Jurisprudence postulates that the law is based on what is "correct".

[A] Natural Law

[B] Sociological

[C] Analytical

[D] Historical

Q.89) Which of the following statements is not true of legal personality?

[A] A legal person is capable of holding rights and duties

[B] A corporation is a legal person

[C] A temple deity can be legal person

[D] A foetus cannot be a legal person

Q.90) A custom whose authority is conditional on its acceptance and incorporation in agreements between the parties to be bound, is a:

[A] General Custom

[B] Legal Custom

[C] Local Custom

[D] Conventional Custom

Q.91) Consider the following statements:
1. Precedents help in the progressive development of law
2. Copyright is a corporeal right
3. In the process of interpretation judges do make the law. Of the statements -

[A] All are correct

[B] 1 and 2 are correct

[C] 1 and 3 are correct

[D] Only 1 is correct

Q.92) Who gave the organic theory of society?

[A] Herbert Spencer

[B] Duguit

[C] Savigny

[D] Austin

Q.93) Which one of the following is the directive principle of state policy?

[A] Total prohibition on movement

[B] Protection and Improvement of Environment

[C] Prevention of Gambling and Lotteries

[D] None of the above

Q.94) Balancing of social interests and the doctrines of social engineering is the greatest contribution to sociological school. This is attributed to whom?

[A] Duguit

[B] Roscoe Pound

[C] Savigny

[D] Jhering

Q.95) Who said that law is a union of primary rules of obligation and secondary rules of recognition?

[A] Hart

[B] Austin

[C] Rawls

[D] Fuller

Q.96) Who wrote "Anarchy, State and Utopia"?

[A] Rawls

[B] Nozick

[C] Fuller

[D] Dworkin

Q.97) Austin's theory of law can be found in his work titled 'Province of Jurisprudence Determined', through which he meant to convey the idea that:

[A] The subject matter of jurisprudence was large till then

[B] The applicability of laws differed from province to province

[C] The subject matter of divine laws etc. does not fall within the purview of jurisprudence

[D] The subject matter of divine laws etc. falls within the purview of jurisprudence

Q.98) Positive law is called positive because:

[A] It is made as a result of divine providence

[B] It is made as a result of collective effort

[C] It is made by a person in authority

[D] It is followed by everybody

Q.99) Who said that the only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others?

[A] Hart

[B] Dworkin

[C] JS Mill

[D] Austin

Q.100) An equivalent to Mill's Harm Principle is stated in:

[A] Ancient Law

[B] Von Beruf

[C] France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

[D] None of the above

Answers

Q.1) C

Q.2) A

Q.3) B

Q.4) D

Q.5) B

Q.6) B

Q.7) C

Q.8) D

Q.9) B

Q.10) B

Q.11) A

Q.12) B

Q.13) B

Q.14) C

Q.15) A

Q.16) C

Q.17) D

Q.18) C

Q.19) B

Q.20) B

Q.21) C

Q.22) C

Q.23) D

Q.24) B

Q.25) A

Q.26) C

Q.27) A

Q.28) B

Q.29) C

Q.30) B

Q.31) B

Q.32) C

Q.33) B

Q.34) A

Q.35) C

Q.36) A

Q.37) D

Q.38) C

Q.39) D

Q.40) D

Q.41) A

Q.42) B

Q.43) D

Q.44) A

Q.45) C

Q.46) C

Q.47) B

Q.48) C

Q.49) C

Q.50) C

Q.51) D

Q.52) A

Q.53) B

Q.54) A

Q.55) A

Q.56) C

Q.57) B

Q.58) B

Q.59) A

Q.60) B

Q.61) B

Q.62) C

Q.63) B

Q.64) C

Q.65) C

Q.66) C

Q.67) D

Q.68) C

Q.69) C

Q.70) D

Q.71) D

Q.72) B

Q.73) B

Q.74) C

Q.75) B

Q.76) B

Q.77) C

Q.78) C

Q.79) B

Q.80) B

Q.81) C

Q.82) B

Q.83) D

Q.84) D

Q.85) D

Q.86) B

Q.87) D

Q.88) A

Q.89) D

Q.90) D

Q.91) C

Q.92) A

Q.93) B

Q.94) B

Q.95) A

Q.96) B

Q.97) C

Q.98) C

Q.99) C

Q.100) C

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