Lubna Jurisprudence_project.docx

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Lon L Fuller’s ‘Anatomy of Law’ and ‘Union Carbide Corporation v. Union of India, (1992).’

Submitted by: Antara Rastogi Division: A Roll No:12 Class:BBA LLB of Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA Symbiosis International University, PUNE In September, 2013 Under the guidance of Dr. Mohd Salim Professor of Jurisprudence(Legal Theory, Indian Legal System and Basic Theory of Law) Symbiosis Law School Noida

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CERTIFICATE

The project entitled “Lon L Fuller’s Anatomy of Law and Union Carbide Corporation V Union of India, 1992 “ submitted to the Symbiosis Law School, NOIDA for JURISPRUDENCE (Legal Theory, Indian Legal System and Basic Theory of Law) as part of Internal assessment is based on my original work carried out under the guidance of Dr. Mohd Salim from July to October. The research work has not been submitted elsewhere for award of any degree. The material borrowed from other sources and incorporated in the thesis has been duly acknowledged. I understand that I myself could be held responsible and accountable for plagiarism, if any, detected later on.

Signature of the candidate: Date:

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AKNOWLEDEGMENT

This project is not only the result of hardwork put by me but the mentorship and guidance Prof. Dr. Mohd. Salim. Who throughout guided me in the project which dealt with a very new method of legal research. I would like to express my special gratitude and thank everybody for giving me such attention and time. My thanks and appreciations also go to my colleague in developing the project and people who have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

I express my heartfelt gratitude to you for guiding throughout.

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INDEX

 About Lon L Fuller’s Jurisprudential Philosophy

 Case in Brief L.L Fuller’s Anatomy of Law

 CASE: Union Carbide Corporation V Union of India

 Philosophy and Case

 Biblography

 Case Index

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L Fuller’s Anatomy of Law and Union Carbide Corporation V Union Of India, 1992 ABOUT THE PHILOSOPHER Fuller was a well known professor of general jurisprudence at Harvard Law School till 1972 when he retired. The array of his writings on law included legal philosophy, contracts, mediation, comparative law, and legal procedure.1 He was of the thought that ‘law is no higher than a particular authority, that is, a sovereign state or a rule of recognition, is morally neutral, and is merely an instrument of external ends such as utility.’2Fullers work in jurisprudence is important in understanding the evolution of twentieth century American legal philosophy. His work is considered landmark with respect to positivism and legal realism. Fuller denied the positivists' claim that law and morals can and should be sharply distinguished, and he denied the realists' claim that fiat rather than law explains a judge's decision in a difficult case.3On one side, law is not simply reason or justice; on the other, law is not simply the will of the sovereign or the interest of the dominant class. Reason and fiat are intertwined, and it is a question for inquiry what the exact mix is at a given historical moment.4 Fuller’s contribution toward jurisprudence can be summed up by his books which are:   

Case of Splelucean Explorers Morality of law Anatomy of law

Fuller was inclined to dwell on the way things can go wrong in the law —the pathological cases.5

SUMMARY OF CASE: There was massive escape of lethal gas, methyl isocyanide from appellants plant into atmosphere which led to a man made calamity. Union of India (UOI) sued appellant for compensation on behalf of all the aggrieved parties. UOI in exercise of power filed suit in District Court at Bhopal the suit asked for decree for damages for people affected by calamity,the matter first went to District Court, where awarded monetary compensation to tune of 350 million dollars then went in appeal before High Court compensation reduced to 250 million dollars after which decisions of High Court challenged by appellant and UOI .enterprise which is engaged in hazardous or inherently dangerous industry posing potential threat to health and safety of persons working in factory owes absolute and non-delegable duty to community to ensure that no harm done to any person - enterprise must be held to be under obligation to provide 1 2

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See. Fuller, Lon L, “The Natural Law Philosophy in contrast toRoe v. Wade and Its ProgenyThomas W. Strahan”. See Fuller, Lon L, The Natural Law Philosophy in contrast toRoe v. Wade and Its ProgenyThomas W. Strahan

See Summers, Robert,” LON L. FULLER”. By. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1984. pp. xiii, 174. Reviewed by William Powers, Jr. * 4 Fuller Lon Luvois,by Kenneth Winston retrived on 18th September from http://ivr-enc.info/index.php?title=Fuller,_Lon_Luvois, 5 Fuller Lon Luvois,by Kenneth Winston retrived on 18th September from http://ivr-enc.info/index.php?title=Fuller,_Lon_Luvois

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that hazardous or inherently dangerous activity enterprise must be absolutely liable to compensate for such harm - enterprise cannot take defense that it took all reasonable care and harm occurred without negligence on its part.

FULLER’S ANATOMY OF LAW: As quoted by Philips Selnik, Fuller’s anatomy of law offers “the thoughtful and sensitive citizens” a glimpse of legal order.6Fuller is a legal pragmatist who acts as a defender of natural law. Legal naturalism which is use of reason to define and analyze human nature aptly sums up the essence of Fullers Anatomy of law. Fuller question whether judicial decisions and formulations of law can properly be regarded as a kind of legislation; Whether a rule or reason must have some kind of authoritative endorsement in its background in order to be genuinely legal, and whether moral rules or reasons that have not been endorsed (say, by other courts) are therefore less important,relevant, or binding.7 Here Fuller takes forward his theory on failure of legal system given in his book morality of law The book is divided into two parts:

1. The Pervasive Problems of law 2. The sources of law Both of his legal theories have been discussed in brief as follows:

1. The Pervasive Problems of law: Basically under pervasive problems of law Fuller carries forward his discussion in his previous book Mortality of law where he discussed in detail how when sovereign fail to do their job as law makers , and when decisions that come out of such a system are vague and unclear , and often contradictory. In this essay he moves his argument further by bringing into light legal pathology when it comes to the vast difference when a law is written in book and when it is actually practiced .he focuses on balancing of legislative intent which is keeping intact the idea with with the legislation was initially drafted and enacted with its judicial interpretation..Also the focal point of his philosophy is preserving the integrity of a legislation in situation of pressure and avoidance of irresponsible lawmaking. The theory lays more focus on criminal law with respect to legal pathologies. In light of criminal law , ‘ Fuller argues for the necessity of multiple ends and for a compromise of punitive, deterrent, custodial, and rehabilitative aims.’8 Fuller refutes that the modern society need law of crimes in order to define what is morally right and wrong 6,

See Fuller, Lon L ,” Anatomy of the Law.” Review by: Philip SelznickHarvard Law Review, Vol. 83, No. 6 (Apr., 1970), pp. 14741480Published by: The Harvard Law Review Association. 7

See Lon L. Fuller ,ANATOMY OF THE LAW. By. New York: Praeger. 1968. Pp. v,122

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Am. J. Juris. (1970) 15 (1): 186-20, Review Of Fuller’s Anatomy of law

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or to establish ‘a proper balance of advantage between the criminal and honest man’9.He justifies penalities saying that in order for a legal system to uphold its integrity it need a system where in order to upholds ones right and safety other should be deprived of it. Fuller says that ‘deterrence and restrain of immediate harm’ is the the primary object of criminal law.The acceptable level of doctrine of retribution that is punishing a person in a way that it is morally right and fully deserved, such that there is a balance between penality and offence plays a primary role. Fuller argues that the clinical approach toward law is acceptable as legal order is bound to change change over a period of time and hence the pathologies are not carried out by chance, their roots lay in the dilemmas of lawmaking and administration. Fuller says that a clinical, problem oriented theory is by rule standardizing. It questions what it is to be a part of a legal enterprise as legislators, as citizens or administrators.

2.The Sources of Law: His perspective of legal naturalism comes into picture in the second part of his book which talks about “The Sources of Law” . Legal positivism which says that any law propounded by a sovereign and competent authority is bound to be good irrespective of its source and that it is only a part of the legal order. He then discusses ‘made’ and implicit law. According to Fuller a legal system had other purposes, whatever is its substantive. Made law is explained as a statue or in simpler words product of authoritive sources creating law anew by some authoritative act.It is seen that theory of positivism shows preference for made laws . The concept of implicit law according to him rests on the fact that some social facts carry legal authority, this authority is not derived from legislative but its force lays in its factual circumstances and its relation with the legal system in simpler words when there is a consensus on mode of conduct, rules perceptions and beliefs which are stated it is immaterial to say that the officials “make” the. Fuller says that citizens sometimes have distorted idea about the meaning of statutory rules. Thus Fuller points out the need for institutional means of settling particular disputes authoritatively.10 The "No man may profit from his own wrong"11 is not a stable foundation to deciding judicial decisions ., it seems inappropriate to maintain that courts must "legislate" to fill "gaps" left by legal rules. 9

See Fuller, Lon L, Anatomy of law, page 29 Fuller, Lon L,ANATOMY OF LAW, (1976)p. 100.

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Dworkin's drawn from Riggs v. Palmer, 115 N.Y. 506, N.E. 188 (1889). Is Law a System of Rules?, supra at pp. 35-41.

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If decision must be made in an area in which established legal rules are silent, it would seem that the resulting disposition of the case would be an instance of judicial fiat, a piece of retrospective legislation precisely because the decision would be out of reach of established legal rules and the basis for prediction and criticism which they afford. The function of legislative enactment is to to create rules by fiat(decree) without having to give legal justification for those rules, which is the whole idea of positivism. But cannot be entirely true as some justification will have to be available: that which establishes the appropriate legislative act as competent. But beyond this minimum, any more detailed argument in support of the enactment is , and any such argument against the enactment is useless, insofar as its legal validity is concerned. Fuller basically talks about legal positivism in light of naturalism.

UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION V. UNION OF INDIA AIR 1992 BRIEF FACTS On the night of December 2-3, 1984, the UCIL Bhopal chemical plant leaked a large quantity of methyl isocyanate, a highly toxic gas, into the City of Bhopal, State of Madhya Pradesh. Due to the wind the gas spread in the densely populated surrounding areas causing thousands of people to die and over two thousand who sustained bodily deformity. Shortly after the disaster, victims and their relatives began to seek recovery from Union Carbide in United States courts.12 The suit asked for a decree for damages for such amount as may be appropriate under the facts and the law and what is fair and full, fairly and finally compensate all persons and authorities who had suffered as a result of the disaster and were having claims against the UCC. It also asked for a decree for effective damages in an amount sufficient to deter the defendant and other multi-national corporations involved in business activities from committing wilful and malicious acts that disregard the rights and safety of the citizens ofthe Constitution Bench which had recorded the settlement proceeded to set out brief reasons on three aspects:

ISSUES RAISED 1. How did this Court arrive at the sum of 470 million US dollars for an over-all settlement?

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Indian Environment Portal, retrived on 9 th Septeber 2013 http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/Federal%20Appeals%20Court%20Decision.pdf

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2. Why did the Court consider this sum of 470 million US dollars as 'just, equitable and reasonable? With respect to the companies liability with respect to law of torts it was established that the liability rose out of the use of ultra-hazardous chemical poisons said to engender not merely strict liability on Rylands v. Fletcher principal but an absolute liability on the principals of M.C. Mehta's case.

PHILOSOPHY AND CASE

The issue which could be discussed in light of Fuller’s Anatomy of law which talks about legal naturalism in the light of fitting penalty to the crime in case of criminal offenses, are:

(i) The criminal cases could not have been compounded or quashed and immunity against criminal action could not be granted; and (ii) the quantum of compensation settled was grossly low. It was discussed in the final decision that the court under the Article 142 had power to squash the criminal proceedings against the UCC and further more make it liable to not only pay compensatory but exemplary damages in the light of the fact that the company acted grossly negligently when it was suppose to take due care and causion. In the case it was contended that the court had no right to command UCC to pay interim compensation. Basically the Article 142 of Indian Constitution says that when is comes to limitation and prohibitions of a provision they cannot have a overruling power on the decision of the Apex court. Also while forming such provisions public policy at large should be kept in view and the court has discretion to amend those policies. Thus by the force of article 142 of constitution the government had the power to pass decree for the immediate welfare of the citizens who were grossly affected by the events of gas leak. Here Fuller’s philosophy of Anatomy of law talks about the very same aspect of law it says that when it comes to providing relief law should be considered but courts should legislate in such a way that it fills the gaps between what is written and ought to be done. Also the the decree of the government is defended by the theory of “ made” law by Fuller it say that where customs and practices do not gain the force of law until and unless they are approved by a competent authority.

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In the case the issue that whether criminal proceedings against a wrongdoer could be mitigated by penalties. The judgment of the case shows that it can happen and is possible that the court has the power to squash criminal proceeding. Fuller’s philosophy also hints natural justice in same context where he argues the need for criminal law to define the morality of action. In Charan Lal Sahu's case MANU/SC/0285/1990 : AIR1990SC1480 Bench was in regard to the constitutional validity of the said enactment, submissions were made on the question whether the dispute settlement was liable to be set aside on the ground that it was in flagrant violation of the principles of natural justice, in that, the victims as well as the victim-groups had no opportunity to examine the terms of the settlement and express their views.

CONCLUSION We at the face of it we are made to agree why a proper settlement could not be set aside on the ground that natural justice have been violated and that practical consequences arise out of the fact that it is not practical.The the validity of the settlement could not be assured. I am in disagreement of Fuller’s Philosophy as it is vague and not in compliance of his earlier philosophies. He tries to combine natural justice with positivism which are both to an extent contradictory concepts, his view of criminal law and pathologies though could be applied but it is not fit for use in all situations.

BIBLOGRAPHY 

Fuller,L.L., ‘Human Interaction and the Law’ from (1969) 14 Amer. J of jurisprudence 1

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

Fuller, L.L, “Morality Of Law”, Universal Law Publishing Company, Delhi, Edi V, 2009

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Selznik, Philip, “Anatomy of law By LL Fuller”, Harvard Law Review, Vol. 83, No. 6,April 1970



Summers, Robert,’LON L. FULLER.’ Stanford California, 1984. pp. xiii, 174.

University

Press,Stanford,

CASE INDEX:

1. Union Carbide Corporation V Inion Of India MANU/SC/0058/1992 Equivalent Citation: I(1992)ACC332, 1991)3CompLJ213(SC), JT1991(6)SC8, 1991(2)SCALE675, [1991]Supp1SCR251, 1992(1)UJ505

AIR1992SC248, (1991)4SCC584,

2. M.C. Mehta v. Union of India MANU/SC/0092/1986 3. Rylands v. Fletcher 1868 LR 3 HL 330, 19 LT 220 4. Charan Lal Sahu's case MANU/SC/0285/1990 : AIR1990SC1480