Interests as per Roscoe Pound - 4

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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.