Bentham concept of law can be said to be an imperative one. According to him, a law may be defined as an assemblage of signs, declarative of volition, conceived or adopted by a sovereign in a state, concerning the conduct to be observed in certain cases. He believed that nature has placed man under the command of two authorities - pain and pleasure.
He opined that laws are to work for the common happiness and hence the power of making laws should be wielded, not to guarantee the selfish desires of individuals, but consciously to secure the common good.
He said that every law may be considered in eight different aspects which are as follows:-
1. Subject is the will of the sovereign.
2. Subjects may be persons or things.
3. Objects are goals or purpose of a given law.
4. Extent is the coverage of the act.
5. Aspects are range of laws to serve a purpose.
6. Force is the motivation to obey a law.
7. Remedial rules are set of subsidiary laws addressed by the judges to prevent the wrong targeted by the Act.
8. An expression here refers to the expression of Sovereign will.
However, it has too got some cons which are as follows:-
1. It does not take proper account of laws conferring powers.
2. He didn't give proper consideration to custom as a source of law.
3. It didn't allowed the laws made by judges.
4. It proposes an action according to pain and pleasure criterion.
5. The happiness of one group may be at the cost of happiness of another group.
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