AUTHOR – BHAGYAMMA G, PH.D. SCHOLAR (LAW) DEPARTMENT OF STUDIES IN LAW, UNIVERSITY OF MYSORE AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SARADA VILAS LAW COLLEGE, KRISHNAMURTHY PURAM, MYSORE, KARNATAKA, INDIA – 570004
Best Citation – BHAGYAMMA G, A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DOCTRINAL AND NON-DOCTRINAL LEGAL RESEARCH, ILE JOURNAL OF GOVERNANCE AND POLICY REVIEW, 1 (1) of 2023, Pg. 88-94, APIS – 3920-0032 | ISSN – 2583 – 8032
ABSTRACT
Legal research is a systematic process that examines legal principles, statutes, regulations, and cases to gather and interpret information relevant to legal matters. Its role extends beyond established knowledge, aiming to evolve legal principles and enhance the justice system. This article explores legal research’s attributes, methods, and importance in driving positive societal change and justice. Legal research encompasses activities beyond information gathering, enriching legal knowledge through updates, alterations, and introductions. It investigates the relationship between law and society, involving codes, acts, and constitutions. Scientific in nature, legal research involves discovering new facts, verifying old ones, analyzing sequences, exploring interrelationships, offering causal explanations, and developing tools. Its objectives include concept manipulation, hypothesis testing, and promoting justice and equitable governance. Legal research’s significance lies in shaping laws, addressing business challenges, aiding courts, raising legal awareness, guiding practitioners, and improving justice. It explores doctrinal (analyzing legal concepts) and non-doctrinal (empirical) research, both contributing to a holistic understanding of the law’s impact. Doctrinal research relies on sources like statutes, cases, and history, analyzing doctrines, systematizing propositions, and studying institutions. Background reading is vital. It’s normative, establishing legal norms through reasoning. Non-doctrinal research employs empirical insights from various fields to understand law’s real-world functioning, enriching legal analysis.
Keywords: Legal Research, Systematic Process, Evolving Legal Principles ,Societal Impact , Doctrinal and Non-Doctrinal Approach