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Hohfeld'S Theory of Rights and Duties

Hohfeld's theory analyzes fundamental legal relations into eight concepts arranged in opposites and correlatives. The theory sees every legal relation as between two persons. It identifies rights and duties, privileges and no-rights, powers and liabilities, and immunities and disabilities as the key jural relations. Hohfeld developed this analytical system building on Salmond's earlier work identifying rights, liberties, and powers, in order to comprehensively classify the legal advantages and burdens that exist between individuals.

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1K views9 pages

Hohfeld'S Theory of Rights and Duties

Hohfeld's theory analyzes fundamental legal relations into eight concepts arranged in opposites and correlatives. The theory sees every legal relation as between two persons. It identifies rights and duties, privileges and no-rights, powers and liabilities, and immunities and disabilities as the key jural relations. Hohfeld developed this analytical system building on Salmond's earlier work identifying rights, liberties, and powers, in order to comprehensively classify the legal advantages and burdens that exist between individuals.

Uploaded by

Vineet Malpani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HOHFELD’S THEORY OF

RIGHTS AND DUTIES


Hohfeld Theory of Jural Relations

 According to Hohfeld, there are eight fundamental legal


conceptions. Those fundamental legal conceptions are sui
generis.
 The most satisfying approach is to lay down various relations
in a scheme of opposites and correlatives, and of then, to
proceed with stating examples of their individual and scope
application in concrete cases.
 Hohfeld saw every Jural relation as a relation between two
persons. His notions might be presented in a slightly
modified version of Glanville Williams’ table.
Hohfeld’s eight-fold conception
 Right Privilege

Duty No-Right
Power Immunity

Immunity Disability
Jural Relations Explained

 The vertical arrows couple jural correlatives, ’’two legal


positions that entail each other.
 The diagonal arrows couple jural opposites, ’’two legal
positions that deny each other’’.
 Every pair of correlatives must always exist together.
 None of the pairs of opposites can exist together. If person
A has a right, he cannot have a no-right in relation to the
same subject matter and the same
person.
Basis of the Theory

 Hohfeld based his analytical system on earlier Salmond’s system.


Salmond identified three jural relations.
 According to Salmond, the notion of right was used in a wider
sense in order to indicate “any advantage or benefit which is in
any manner conferred upon a person by a rule of law”.
 Rights in the strict sense, which are defined as interests protected
by the law by imposing its duties with respect to the rights upon
other persons.
 Liberties defined as “interests of unrestrained activity” and;
 Powers “when the law actively assists me in making my will
effective”
Eight Jural Relations

 The Eight Jural Relations are basic parts of the more complex
legal relationships with which the law must deal.
 Hohfeld divided the eight into pairs which cannot exist
together (opposites), and those which must exist together
(correlatives).
 Jural Opposites- Right-No right Privilege-Duty Power-
Disability Immunity-Liability.
 Jural Correlatives- Right-Duty Privilege-No right Power-
Liability Immunity-Disability.
Definitions
 PRIVILEGE- “The legal relation of A to B when A(with respect to B) is free or at liberty to
conduct himself in a certain manner for the benefit of B by the command of society; and
when he is not threatened by with any penalty for disobedience, for the reason that
society has made no command.”
 NO-RIGHT- “The legal relation of a person, A, in whose behalf society commands nothing
of another, B.”
 POWER- “The legal relations of A to B when A’s own voluntary act will cause new legal
relations either between B and A or between B and the third person.”
 LIABILITY- “The relation of A to B when A may be brought into new legal relations by the
voluntary act of B.”
 IMMUNITY- “The relation A to B when B has no legal power… to affect someone or more
of the existing legal relations of A, as to that particular existing relation A has an immunity
with respect to B.”
 DISABILITY- “The relation of A to B when by no voluntary act of his own can A extinguish
one (or more) of the existing legal relations of B.”
Explanation
 Rights, privileges, powers, immunities - these four seem
fairly to constitute a comprehensive general classification of
legal “rights” in the generic sense.
 The four correlative terms - duty, no-right, liability and disability
- likewise sufficiently classify the legal burdens which
correspond to the legal benefits.
 In Terry’s Principles of Anglo-American Law, rights stricto sensu
appears as “correspondent rights”, privileges as “permissive
rights”, privileges as “permissive rights”, powers as “faculative
rights”; but immunities not at all.
THANK YOU

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