MZUMBE UNIVERSITY

MAIN CAMPUS

FACULTY OF LAW

QUESTION

Explicate the reasons for the rejection of Natural law in 19th century and its revival in 20th
century
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 3

1.1 The Natural Law Theory...................................................................................................... 3

2.0 REJECTION OF NATURAL LAW IN THE 19TH CENTURY ......................................... 4

2.1 Rise of the Bourgeoisies ...................................................................................................... 4

2.2 Shortcomings of the Common Law Legal System .............................................................. 5

2.3 Rise of Sovereign States ...................................................................................................... 6

2.4 Impact of the French Revolution (1789-1799) .................................................................... 6

2.6 The development of social sciences ..................................................................................... 7

2.7 The rise of utilitarianism ...................................................................................................... 8

2.7 Rise of legal positivism ........................................................................................................ 9

3.0 THE REVIVAL OF NATURAL LAW IN THE 20TH CENTURY .................................... 9

3.1 The shortfall of Positivism ................................................................................................... 9

3.2 Impact of the World Wars.................................................................................................. 10

3.3The Impact of Nuremberg Trials (1945-46). ...................................................................... 11

3.4 Impact of the Nazi wife informant case ............................................................................. 11

3.5 The re-emergence of Thomism .......................................................................................... 12

3.6 The Rise of Neo Kantianism .............................................................................................. 13

4.0 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 14

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The question forth requires a critical analysis of the factors that contributed towards the
decline of the natural law theory in the 19th century and its resurrection in the 20th century.
Therefore natural law theory will be subjected to a long discussion, tracing its path way and
endurance throughout the centuries.

1.1 The Natural Law Theory

The theory of ‘natural law’ is a concept which has a life span of over 2500 years. This has
provoked many different elucidations over the centuries.1 Natural law has been a faithful
servant over the epochs, serving entirely different purposes in different periods and ages.
D’Entreves argues on this contentious aspect by asserting that, many of the ambiguities of the
concept of natural law must be ascribed to the ambiguity of the concept of nature that
underlies it.2

The interpretations as to the content of the principles surrounding natural law have constantly
been in divergence from one another, but the central notion as explicated by Fitzgerald lies
on the essence that there exist objective moral principles which depend on the essential nature
of the Universe and which can be discovered by natural reason, and that ordinary human law
is only truly law in so far as it conforms to these principles.3 This is valid necessity because
the rules governing correct human conduct are logically connected with immanent truths
concerning human nature.4

Natural law can be traced to the ancient Greeks such as Protagoras, Callicles, Hippias, Plato
and Aristotle.5 The Stoics whose emphasis was man being subjected towards rationalism. The
Roman Jurisprudence, through jurists such as Marcus Cicero and Gaius who associated
natural law with ius gentium. Then during the medieval era, where the teachings of the
church dominant, natural law was most famously explicated through St Augustine through
his book ‘City of God’ and St Thomas Aquinas who divided the law into eternal, divine,

1
Ghormade, V. (2014). Lectures on Jurisprudence & Legal Theory. 2nd ed. Pune: Hind Law Publications. p. 61
2
Cited in Freeman, M.D.A.(2008). Introduction to Jurisprudence. 8th ed. London: Thomas Reuters (Legal) Ltd. p.
84
3
Fitzgerald, P.J. (2008). Salmond on Jurisprudence. 12th ed. New Delhi: Universal Law Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. p.
15
4
Freeman, M.D.A.(2008). Introduction to Jurisprudence. Op cit. p. 84
5
ibid
natural and human.6 The renaissance period was characterized with natural law which was on
separate terms with the dogmatic teachings of the church as advocated by philosophers such
as Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jacques Rousseau, and many more. There
was also the development of the social contract theory, which tried to explain on the position
of the state and law. Though this long and enduring journey, natural law was met with crisis
in the 19th century as was culminated from the prior century, which inevitably led to its
demise.

2.0 REJECTION OF NATURAL LAW IN THE 19TH CENTURY

At the dawn of the 19th century, there was a reaction against excessive individualism fostered
by later natural law theories.7 There grew up a collectivist outlook on life and natural law
theories declined.8

2.1 Rise of the Bourgeoisies

With the stabilization of the capitalist order in 19th century, the bourgeoisie overthrew the
feudal class and took reign power.9 The bourgeois ideologists renounced natural law
declaring the bourgeois system to be the only possible and just order, not requiring supra
legal criteria for its justification.10 The bourgeoisie won the ideological war between contract
and status against the feudalists, as they advocated for analytical jurisprudence, a method of
legal study that concentrates on the logical structure of law, putting emphasis on legislation
as the source of law.11 This ideology regarded law as a closed system of pure facts form
which all norms and values are excluded.12

The circumstance that prompted such stern rejection of natural law by the bourgeois was the
atmosphere of legal uncertainty that surrounded their business affairs. 13 There was a need to

6
ibid
7
Mahajan, V. D. (2001). Jurisprudence & Legal Theory. 5th ed. Lalbagh: Eastern Book Company. p. 710
8
ibid
9
Roederer, C & Moellendorf, D.(2007). Jurisprudence. London: Juta and Company Ltd p. 45
10
Maritain, J. (1971). The Rights of Man and Natural Law. Retrieved on April 2, 2018. Available at
https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/natural+law
11
Ratanapala, S. (2011). Jurisprudence. 1st South Asian ed. New Delhi: Juta and Company Ltd
12
ibid
13
Maritain, J. (1971). The Rights of Man and Natural Law. Retrieved on April 2, 2018. Available at
https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/natural+law
have clear and known rules governing such contractual relations rather than basing on
customs and religion as was prevalent during feudalism.14

2.2 Shortcomings of the Common Law Legal System

In the 18th century the common law was observed to be in shambles by a number of
prominent scholars and jurists such as Edmund Burke, Romilly and Jeremy Bentham.15
This was seen to have manifested through various ways, such as defects harboured with the
doctrine of precedents (stare decisis). Bentham asserted it to be ‘dog law’16:

It is the judges (as we have seen) that make the common law. Do you know how
they make it? Just as a man makes law for his dog. When your dog does anything
you want to break him of, you wait till he does it and then beat him for it. This is
the way you make laws for your dog: and this is the way the judges make law17

Other flaws included; law taxes which placed undue burdens on litigants, there were
complicated rules of procedure that delayed decisions which made justice costly and also
obsolete rules of evidence which made informed judgments far more difficult.18 Moreover
there was an increase of new cases which did not fit into any of criteria that existed during
that period of time. These new and complex cases were dealt with by the expedient of forcing
them into old categories which mostly led to unfavourable results.19 Criminal law was also in
a dilemma. There were over 250 crimes in England that were considered grave offences and
attracted capital punishment.20

It was due to this state of disorder that jurists such as Bentham were dedicated to the cause of
law reform, with the belief that justice, order, certainty and simple procedure could be
implanted permanently into any legal system through adoption of a concise legal code.21

14
ibid
15
Kinsley, G. M. (1986). The Decline of Capital Crime Statutes in Early 19th Century England. Retrieved on April
6, 2018. Available at https://archives.columbusstate.edu/gah/1986/120-130
16
Alfange Jr, D. (1969). Jeremy Bentham and the Codification of Law. Cornell Law Review. Vol 55. Issue no.1.
Retrieved on April 3, 2018. Available at http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/vol55/iss1/3. p. 66
17
From J.Bentham’s Truth v. Ashurst, as quoted in Alfange Jr, D. (1969). Jeremy Bentham and the Codification
of Law. Op cit. p. 66
18
Alfange Jr, D. (1969). Jeremy Bentham and the Codification of Law. Op cit. p. 61
19
ibid
20
Kinsley, G. M. (1986). The Decline of Capital Crime Statutes in Early 19th Century England. Retrieved on April
6, 2018. Available at https://archives.columbusstate.edu/gah/1986/120-130
21
Alfange Jr, D. (1969). Jeremy Bentham and the Codification of Law. Op cit. p. 61
2.3 Rise of Sovereign States
The rise of sovereign states frustrated the ideologies of higher law inherent in each and every
individual.22 This was attributed to pre-eminent ideas of legal and political philosophy, jurists
such as Bodin, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Bentham.23 Jean Bodin conceived sovereignty as a
supreme, perpetual and indivisible power, marked by the ability to make law without the
consent of any other.24 Therefore this implied that there is no higher authority that could
empower the state and limits its ability.25 This contributed to the decline of natural law.

2.4 Impact of the French Revolution (1789-1799)

This was a period of far reaching social and political upheaval in France and its colonies that
lasted from 1788 to 1799 as partially carried forward by Napoleon.26 This period catalysed
violent periods of political turmoil and culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon who
brought many of its principles to areas he conquered in Western Europe, waving the doctrine
of natural law as its banner.27 In Freeman’s highly compressed narrative, the violence of the
French Revolution discredited natural rights.28 Also Jeremy Waldron states that; “there can
be no doubt about the impact of the French Revolution and the subsequent Terror in
discrediting natural right at least in the first twenty or thirty years of the 19 th century.”29 He
continues asserting that the reaction was quick, less ambivalent and intense, whereby many
took the opportunity to publish theories that not only rejected the doctrine of natural law but
were explicit reactions against the basic humanism of its premises. These writers include
Gobineau, Bentham, James Mill, John Mill, Friedrich Karl von Savigny, Sir Henry
Maine and many others advocating for a substitute for such ideologies.30

22
Ghormade, V. (2014). Lectures on Jurisprudence & Legal Theory. Op cit. p. 61
23
ibid
24
Dunning, W. A. (1896). Jean Bodin on Sovereignty. Political Science Quarterly. Vol 11. Issue 1. Retrieved on
April 8, 2018. Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2139603
25
Troper, M. (2015). Sovereignty and Natural Law in the Legal Discourse of the Ancien Regime. Retrieved on
April 8, 2018. Available at https:/ http://www.jstor.org/
26
Jeremy, W. (2009). The Decline of Natural Right. New York University Public Law and Legal Theory Working
Papers. Paper 143. Retrieved on April 8, 2018. Available at https://Isr.nellco.org/nyu_plltwp/143
27
Freeman, M. (2011). Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach. 2nd ed. London: Cambridge UK Polity. p.
37
28
ibid
29
Jeremy, W. (2009). The Decline of Natural Right. Op cit
30
ibid
2.5 Rise of Historicism

This was a school of jurisprudence that was pioneered by Prof. Friedrich Karl von Savigny,
a German jurist as influenced by Johann Herder.31 During this period Germany was
recovering from reign of the French, trying to find an alternate ideology on law, freeing
themselves form the Napoleon code which was centred on natural law. The central idea of
this school was that a nation’s customary law is its truly living law and the task of
jurisprudence is to uncover this law and describe in historical studies its social provenience.
This school rejects the conviction that there is a practical law of nature or reason, an ideal
legislation for all times and all circumstances. They believe that the origin and development
of the law is rooted in the customs of the society as emanated from the spirit of the people
and this is different in each society making the concept of natural law inapplicable.32

2.6 The development of social sciences

The 19th century witnessed the birth of the social sciences such as the introduction of
sociology, economics and political science.33 As explained by Mirabella, it was believed that
all intellectual endeavours could be pursued from a scientific basis and ideas and human
behaviour, investigated with a scalpel and microscope.34 Increasingly, science was viewed as
the fundamental tool of progress. It was believed all elements of society could be objectively
studied, and as result provide an accurate basis for large scale social engineering.35 Natural
law, based on morality and incapable of being subjected to objective analysis, faded away as
it failed to stand up to scientific rigor and the challenge from Legal Positivism.36

Auguste Comte, is the one credited with inventing the term ‘sociology’, denoting scientific
analysis of the society.37 Comte denounced natural law theory as false, non-scientific and
based on supernatural beliefs.38 Waldron credits the decline of natural law to the ‘rise of

31
ibid
32
ibid
33
Mirabella, D. (2011). The Death and Resurrection of Natural Law. WAJ. Vol 2. Issue No. 2.
34
ibid
35
Roederer, C & Moellendorf, D.(2007). Jurisprudence. Op cit. p. 45
36
Mirabella, D. (2011). The Death and Resurrection of Natural Law. Op cit
37
Doherty, M. (2001). Jurisprudence: The Philosophy of Law. 2nd ed. London: Thomas Reuters (legal) ltd. p. 171
38
ibid
large-scale social theory’ particularly as articulated by Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and
Max Weber.39 They asserted the following;

By comparison the morality of rights seemed naive, simplistic and irrelevant to

the complexity of the problems of nineteenth-century society. The Industrial
Revolution was viewed largely in terms of a play of forces which were to be
understood sociologically, not ethically.... Social determinism, the sociology of
ideas, legal positivism and utilitarianism: in the midst of these theoretical currents,
the rights of man seemed hopelessly out of their depth.40

2.7 The rise of utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is a philosophical movement that was propounded by the bourgeoisie class
during the 19th century.41 It was believed that a man is a social being by nature and is always
motivated in life majorly by the desire to obtain happiness and avoid pain.42

As explicated by Gill, Jeremy Bentham was the philosopher and jurist who promulgated the
principle of utility into existence.43 As influenced by Thomas Hobbes’ account of human
nature and David Hume’s account of social utility, he developed his own assertion, holding
that humans were ruled by two sovereign masters.44 These masters are pleasure and pain.
Bentham promulgated the principle of utility as the standard of right action on the part of
governments and individuals. Such actions are supposed to serve the happiness of the greatest
numbers of individuals in the community45. This was an idea profound after reading Joseph
Priestley’s Essay on Government.46 Bentham clearly rejected natural law, by categorizing law
as a subject of scientific formulation.47 To him law is an assemblage of signs, declarative of
volition, conceived or adopted by the sovereign in a state, concerning the conduct to be
observed in a certain case by a certain person or class of persons who in the case in question

39
Pagden, A. (2003). "Human Rights, Natural Rights, and Europe's Imperial Legacy". Political Theory Vol. 31.,
no. 2. p. 171-199
40
Ibid. p. 153
41
ibid
42
Gill, M. (2006). The British Moralists on Human Nature and the Birth of Secular Ethics. New York: Cambridge
University Press
43
ibid
44
ibid
45
Alfange Jr, D. (1969). Jeremy Bentham and the Codification of Law. Cornell Law Review. Vol 55. Issue no.1.
Retrieved on April 3, 2018. Available at http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/vol55/iss1/3
46
ibd
47
ibid
are supposed to be the subject to his power.48 His ideas were later on expressed and
developed by his student and admirer John Stuart Mill, who quashed the ideas of natural
law and advocated for codification of laws based on utility. 49

2.7 Rise of legal positivism

Though Auguste Comte, the father of sociology is credited as the one who coined the term
‘positivism’, John Austin is the one who gave the whole ideology a firm base, causing the
decline of natural law in the 19th century.50 In opposing traditional natural law approaches,
Austin argued against any necessary connections between law and morality. Human legal
systems, he claimed, can and should be studied in an empirical, value freeway. Austin’s
emphasis was on a system of analytical legal positivism in the context of modern state.51 He
also used the concept of utility in his philosophical reasoning, focusing on the law as it is and
not what it ought to be. Austin postulated that law is the command of the sovereign which the
subjects are duty bound to obey, whereby disobedience leads to penal consequences. Such
law is devoid of moral or cultural values.52

3.0 THE REVIVAL OF NATURAL LAW IN THE 20TH CENTURY

The atmosphere created by different circumstances in the 20th century could not endure the
precepts of positivism much longer. This led to a new dawn of ideologies on natural law. The
following can be said the reasons for this evolution;

3.1 The shortfall of Positivism

The pure positivist approach failed to solve the problems created by the changed social
conditions.53 The certainty and stability of the law, which were projected as the greatest
virtues by legal positivists and the logical methods popularised by analytical jurisprudence,

48
http://www.grkarelawlibrary.yolasite.com/resources/LLM-LT-1-Devanand.pdf
49
Crisp, R. (1998). Mill, John Stuart, 1861 [U]: Utilitarianism. Oxford: Oxford University Press
50
Ghormade, V. supra
51
Paton, G. W. (2007). A Textbook of Jurisprudence. 4 th ed. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 5
52
ibid
53
Tripathi, B. N. M. (2004). An Introduction to Jurisprudence (Legal Theory). 15th ed. New Delhi: Allahabad Law
Agency. p. 101
were found to be inadequate.54 It was seen that law is not simply a matter of applying statutes
or precedents to any instance. Roscoe Pound asserts the following;

“We have learned that entire certainty and objectivity in the judicial process
cannot be assured by providing a detailed rule in advance for every case that can
arise. We have learned that much has to be left to legal reasoning and that a choice
has to be made as between starting points for such reasoning which are of equal
authority, often without any legal precept requiring choice of one rather than the
other.”55

The impact of material progress and its effect on the society made the thinkers look for some
values and standards, an ideology that could prevent general moral degradation of the
people.56 Therefore this created the environment towards revival of natural law.

3.2 Impact of the World Wars

The 20th century witnessed two great wars. The first one from 1914 to 1919 and the second
one from 1939 to 1945.57 Positive law clearly demonstrated the failure to preserve order and
protect against the grave abuse of power granted by the protection of national sovereignty.
The WWII was one of the most catastrophic events the world has ever seen and truly shook
the established world order inevitably reviving natural law.58

In the aftermath of the WWII, the United Nations was born assigned with the task of
protecting the world from another global war.59 The UN Charter (1945) drew heavily from
natural law principles in entrenching an objective set of natural fundamental rights.60 These
basic human rights, while mentioned in the preamble and article one of the UN Charter, were
actually listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).61 This document
inspired the invention of numerous declarations and other conventions around the world.62

54
Jayakumar, N. K. (2006). Lectures in Jurisprudence. 2nd ed. New Delhi: LexisNexis Butterworths. p. 115
55
Pound, R. (1942). Revival of Natural Law. Notre Dame L. Rev.287. Vol 17. Issue 4. Retrieved on April 7, 2018.
Available at http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol17/iss4/1
56
Paranjape, N. V. (2007). Studies in Jurisprudence ad Legal Theory. New Delhi: Central Law Society. p. 100
57
Mirabella, supra
58
Hanhimaki, J. M. (2008). The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.
p. 11
59
ibid
60
Joseph, S & Kyriakis, J, (2010). Research Book on International Human Rights Law. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Publishing Ltd. p.16
61
ibid
62
ibid
The events of WWII also inspired renewed interest of natural law in jurisprudence academic
circles.63 Prominent jurists include Gustav Radbruch, previously a positivist, expressed in
his work known as ‘Rechtsphilosophie’ that Nazi laws did not ‘partake of the character of law
at all; they were not just wrong law, but were not law of any kind.64

3.3The Impact of Nuremberg Trials (1945-46).

These were a series of trials held in Nuremburg which tried the former leaders of the Nazi
regime for war crimes committed during WWII.65 The ideological status of law during that
period time was centred on the command of the sovereign (positivism).66 Therefore this
meant that, all laws enacted legitimately by the state, were not to be defied under any
circumstances.67 This was the major dilemma that faced the prosecutors, as they could not
fault the actions of the Nazi leaders since they were following the legitimately enacted laws
of the State. The only way that could bring these individuals to justice, was to appeal towards
the interjections of natural law, hinging on the inner morality that ought to be inherent in each
and every individual.68

The decision in the Nuremburg Trials resulted in the birth of the ‘Nuremburg Principle’,
which established that certain acts constituted ‘crimes against humanity’ regardless of the fact
they did not offend against specific provisions of the positive law. 69 Though they did not
explicitly appeal towards natural law, they point out the insufficiency of positive laws,
establishing a firm base towards the revival of the former.

3.4 Impact of the Nazi wife informant case

The German/Nazi wife informant case,70 is one of the cases in a series of cases which were
categorically known as the ‘informer cases’ or ‘grudge cases’. Summarily it was a case
involving a wife who was accused of illegally depriving her husband of his freedom by

63
Mirabella, D. (2011). The Death and Resurrection of Natural Law. Op cit
64
Kelly, J. M. (1992). A Short History of Western Legal Theory. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 303
65
Mirabella, D. (2011). The Death and Resurrection of Natural Law. Op cit
66
ibid
67
Zimmermann, A. (2010). ‘Legislating Evil: The Philosophical Foundations of the Nazi Legal System’.
International Trade and Business Law Review. Vol 13 221, 231
68
Mirabella, D. (2011). The Death and Resurrection of Natural Law. Op cit
69
Wacks, R. (2005). Understanding Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Legal Theory. New York: Oxford
University Press. p. 26
70
Hart, H.L.A. (1958). Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals. Harv.L.Rev.616. 717 Retrieved on April
7, 2018. Availbale at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1917342
informing the Nazi government of his condemnation comments. The wife claimed that she
was abiding to the laws that were in place.71 The court of appeal which decided the case held
that the statute under which the wife was claiming protection "was contrary to the sound
conscience and sense of justice of all decent human beings."72 Hence it was reasoned that she
could not be given protection under such statute.

This reasoning became a benchmark precedent which was followed in many cases that have
been hailed as a triumph of the doctrines of natural law and as signalling the overthrow of
positivism.73 This case also sparked a famous debate between legal theorist Lon Fuller
(1902-78) and H L A Hart (1907-92), which would get to the heart of the tension between
law and morality.74 Fuller contended that the Nazi laws were invalid because internal
morality was absent from their legal system. On the other hand, Hart argued that immorality
should not invalidate laws but rather, retrospective laws should be enacted to fix problems of
bad law. Though his reluctance to accept morality, Hart admitted that a requirement of a
minimum content of morality is inevitable in law.75

3.5 The re-emergence of Thomism

The rebirth of Thomism in Catholic thought was supported by Leo XIII’s the encyclical letter
Aeterni Partis (1879).76 It was marked as Neo-Scholasticism, which entailed a method for
studying and expounding St Thomas Aquinas’s thought, a method that inevitably became a
way of interpreting it, with incorporation of modern theories of law. The philosophical and
theological movement of Neo-Scholasticism was promoted above all by the Jesuits at the end
of the 19th century, and it quickly spread not only in Italy but also in Belgium, France, and
Germany, aspiring to take on the role of the philosophy proper to the Catholic Church.77
Especially with regard to natural law and morality. In general the attitude of Neo-
Scholasticism was that of frontal opposition to the philosophical currents dominant at

71
ibid
72
ibid
73
ibid
74
Mirabella, D. (2011). The Death and Resurrection of Natural Law. Op cit
75
Leiboff, M & Thomas, M. (2009). Legal Theories: Contexts and Practices . London: Lawbook Co. p. 262
76
Pattaro, P. Et al. (2015). Natural Law Theories in the Twentieth Century. A Treatise of Legal Philosophy and
General Jurisprudence. Vol 12. 1300p. Retrieved on April 7, 2018. Available at
http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/
77
ibid
different times. First to positivism, neo idealism and analytical philosophy. These ideologies
spread throughout gaining a good number of followers, signalling the revival of natural law.78

3.6 The Rise of Neo Kantianism

Neo Kantianism entails the revival of the 18th century philosophy of Immanuel Kant, which
was mainly influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer’s critique of the Kantian philosophy. His
ideas were channelled towards different aspects, one of them being the revival of natural
law.79 A pioneering attempt to create a modernized natural law philosophy based on a priori
reasoning was made in Germany by Rudolf Stammler. A philosophical disciple of Kant. He
departed from his master Kant by breaking the notion of law into two components: the
concept of law and the idea of law.80 He defined law as the aggregate of the conditions under
which freedom on one could be harmonized with the freedom of all. He described it as the
inviolable and autocratic collective will. Stammler developed the idea of natural law with a
variable content, a formal construct with no particular content.81

Then there is Giorgio Del Vecchio, an Italian legal philosopher. Like Stammler he also
distinguishes sharply between the concept of law and the ideal of law.82 Del Vecchio’s theory
approximated to classical natural law, in placing the autonomy of the individual in the centre
his theory of justice, maximising of the human being’s capacity for free development, and the
protection of the rights which naturally belonged to him because entailed by this end was the
business of the state. He described a state which acted contrary to justice in this sense as a
delinquent state.83

There is an endless list of legal philosophers and scholars who profound on the ideas of
Immanuel Kant, advocated strongly towards the revival of the ideologies on natural law to be
incorporated in the current legal system so as guarantee justice.

78
ibid
79
Prabhu, D. P. (2017). The Revival of Natural Law and Value Oriented Jurisprudence. Retrieved on April 7,
2018. Available at https://www.grkarelawlibrary.yolasite.com/resources/
80
ibid
81
Wacks, R. (2005). Understanding Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Legal Theory. Op cit. p. 26
82
ibid
83
Ibid, p. 27
4.0 CONCLUSION
The theory of natural law has stood strong throughout different epochs, serving various
purposes in each and every one of them. With the rise of positivism and the empirical spirit of
the period, natural law was not to be found during the 19th century through to the mid-20th
century. However, it was proved that order and stability cannot be preserved without the
assistance of natural law. The events and atrocities that occurred during the 20th century
forced a re-emergence of natural law under the guise of human rights and sparked new
debates and a sustained academic interest in natural law which still thrives till this very day.
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Hanhimaki, J. M. (2008). The United Nations: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford
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JOURNAL ARTICLES

Mirabella, D. (2011). The Death and Resurrection of Natural Law. WAJ. Vol 2. Issue No. 2.

Pagden, A. (2003). "Human Rights, Natural Rights, and Europe's Imperial Legacy". Political
Theory Vol. 31., no. 2

Zimmermann, A. (2010). ‘Legislating Evil: The Philosophical Foundations of the Nazi Legal
System’. International Trade and Business Law Review. Vol 13 221, 231

ONLINE ARTICLES

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Vol 55. Issue no.1. Retrieved on April 3, 2018. Available at
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Issue 1. Retrieved on April 8, 2018. Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2139603

Hart, H.L.A. (1958). Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals. Harv.L.Rev.616. 717
Retrieved on April 7, 2018. Availbale at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1917342
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https://Isr.nellco.org/nyu_plltwp/143

Kinsley, G. M. (1986). The Decline of Capital Crime Statutes in Early 19th Century England.
Retrieved on April 6, 2018. Available at https://archives.columbusstate.edu/gah/1986/120-
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Maritain, J. (1971). The Rights of Man and Natural Law. Retrieved on April 2, 2018.
Available at https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/natural+law

Pattaro, P. Et al. (2015). Natural Law Theories in the Twentieth Century. A Treatise of Legal
Philosophy and General Jurisprudence. Vol 12. 1300p. Retrieved on April 7, 2018. Available
at http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr

Pound, R. (1942). Revival of Natural Law. Notre Dame L. Rev.287. Vol 17. Issue 4.
Retrieved on April 7, 2018. Available at http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol17/iss4/1

Prabhu, D. P. (2017). The Revival of Natural Law and Value Oriented Jurisprudence.
Retrieved on April 7, 2018. Available at https://www.grkarelawlibrary.yolasite.com/resources

Troper, M. (2015). Sovereignty and Natural Law in the Legal Discourse of the Ancien
Regime. Retrieved on April 8, 2018. Available at https:/ http://www.jstor.org/