ABSTRACT

Gray, Professor of Law at Harvard, was a close associate of Holmes and shared with him the approach to the nature of law which has been classified as ‘realist’. He differentiated, in his principal work, Nature and Sources of the Law (1909) (which was based upon a series of lectures delivered at Columbia), between the ‘sources of the law’ and ‘the law’. His basic thesis was that when judges settle what facts exist in a dispute, and lay down the rules by which they deduce legal consequences from those facts, those rules constitute the law. Gray’s realist approach emerged fully in his assertion that a statute ought not to be considered ‘law’ unless and until it had been interpreted by the courts. The required answer should emphasise Gray’s ‘realism’ in relation to the fundamental nature of the law. The following skeleton plan is used:

Introduction – defining ‘the law’ precisely – a consideration of Austin’s view of law – an examination of Savigny’s theory of the Volksgeist – law as rules – judges and rules – the law does exist – conclusion, law as an explanation of our experiences.