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Interests as per Roscoe Pound
Roscoe Pound defined interest as: a demand or
expectation which human beings either individually or in groups, or
associations or relations, seek to satisfy, of which, therefore, the adjustment
of human relations and ordering of human behaviour through the force of a
politically organized society must take account. Note that legal protection of
interest is usually expressed by conferring the status of a legal right on it.
He identified and classified interests into three groups – individual
interests, public interests, and social interests. Pound says that interests
are the chief subject-matter of law. The main public interest according to him
is the interest of the state as a juristic person and secondly interest of the
state as the guardian of social interest. These interests are protected by law.
Individual Interests. Individual interests
are ‘demands or claims or desires involved in or regarded from the standpoint
of the individual life.’ They concern:
1) Personality. This includes interests in (a) the
physical person, (b) freedom of will, (c) honour and reputation, (d) privacy,
and (e) belief and opinion.
2) Domestic relations. It is important to
distinguish between the interest of individuals in domestic relationships and
that of society in such institutions as family and marriage. Individual
interests include those of (a) parents, (b) children, (c) husbands, and (d)
wives.
3) Interest of substance. This includes interests
of (a) property, (b) freedom of industry and contract, (c) promised advantages,
(d) advantageous relations with others, (e) freedom of association, and (f)
continuity of employment.
Public Interests. Public interests are
‘demands or desires involved in or looked at from the viewpoint of life in a
politically organised society, asserted in title of political life.’ These are
claims or demands or desires asserted by individuals in title of a politically
organised society which are mainly of two types:
1) Interests of the state as a juristic person.
These, include (a) the integrity, freedom of action and honour of the state’s
personality, and (b) claims of the politically organised society as a
corporation to property acquired and held for corporate purposes.
2) Interests of the state as guardian of social
interests. This concept is explained in the next major category.
Social Interests. Social interests are those
‘wider demands or desires involved in or looked at from the standpoint of
social life in civilised society and asserted in title of social life.’ Such
social interests enumerated by Pound are many. These are claims or demands or
desires, even some of the foregoing in other aspects, thought of in terms of
social life and generalised as claims of the social group and include:
1) Social interest in the general security- This is
the claim of the civilised society to be secured against those forms of action
and courses of conduct which threaten its existence which relate to (a) general
safety, (b) general health, (c) peace and order, (d) security of acquisitions,
and (e) security of transactions.
2) Social interest in the security of social
institutions. This is the claim of the civilised society that its fundamental
institutions be secured from factors which threaten their existence or impair
their efficient functioning and comprises of (a) domestic institutions, (b)
religious institutions, (c) political institutions, and (d) economic institutions.
3) Social interest in general morals. This is for
civilised society to be secured against factors offensive to the moral
sentiments of it and conveys a variety of laws, for example, those dealing with
prostitution, drunkenness and gambling.
4) Social interest in the conservation of social
resources. This is the claim of the civilised society that the goods of
existence shall not be wasted and covers (a) conservation of natural resources,
and (b) conservation of human resources.
5) Social interest in general progress- This is the
claim of the civilised society that the goods of existence shall not be wasted;
which has three aspects;
a) Economic progress, which covers (i) freedom of
use and sale of property, (ii) free trade, (iii) free industry, and (iv)
encouragement of invention by the grant of patents.
b) Political progress, which covers (i) free
speech, and (ii) free associations; and
c) cultural progress, which covers (i) free
science, (ii) free letters, (iii) free arts, (iv) promotion of education and
learning, and (v) aesthetics.
6) Social interest in individual life. This is the
claim or of the civilised society that each individual be able to live a human
life therein according to the standards of the society and involves (a) self-assertion,
(b) opportunity, and (c) conditions of life.
With this array of interests in a society, it is
only a matter of course that contention, conflicts and controversies will
arise. According to Pound law is really about reconciling, harmonising, or
compromising these conflicting interests either through securing them directly
and immediately or through securing certain individual interests so as to give
effect to the greatest number of interests, or to the interests that weigh most
in our civilisation with the least sacrifice of other interests. All he
appeared to be saying is if all the interests cannot be enforced then most of
the interests should be enforced. Alternatively, certain interests must be
prioritized over others and enforced with minimal collateral damage to other
non-priority interests. Pound was of the opinion that the concern of the law is
to satisfy as many interests as possible and to resolve any conflicts amongst
the categories of interests he had identified.
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