Discuss briefly the juridical Theory Regarding the Nature of the state

The juridical theory is an important theory of the state. This theory is also known as a legalistic theory or justice theory. According to this theory, the state functions under certain legal rules. Legally speaking, the state has a personality and will of its own, distinct from the personality and will of its members. The state is viewed as a juristic or legal person. It can make execute laws. It can punish and also punished by its citizens. It also guarantees the right and obligations to its members.

Advocates: The chief advocates of the theory are F. J. Stahl, Von Stein, Otto Gierke, and H. G. Treetschke. All the jurists are not agreed among themselves. There are some who regards the state as the sole and exclusive creator of law while others reject this opinion and maintain that a large body of law in the past was never enacted or created by the state. They claim that certain laws consisted of customs and usages which no legal sovereign could afford to ignore. A jurist like Duguit might visit the length of maintaining that regulation may also exist anterior to the creation of the state and therefore, is independent of its will.

Thus, jurists themselves look differently on the nature of the state. As long as the conception of the state is a person means nothing more than that it is a sovereign corporation, that is, an 'artificial' person, as the law regards all corporations and as such possesses a collective will. But the conception of the real personality of the state, as asserted by some eminent German jurists, is pregnant with pernicious results. One may accept the proposition that the state like other corporations, has legal personality and it can use others and be used by others. It may own property. The states do direct and undertake economic enterprises and perform other functions as the custodian of the interests of the present and future generations. Citizens of the state suffer from telescopic defects. They discount the future and put a premium on the present. Moreover individual interest changes and shifts. The state is a permanent legal entity, It endures and represents the collective interests of all citizens rather than individual interests represented by the individual will.

Criticism: The juridical theory of juristic theory or legalistic theory has the following demerits which are severely Criticized :

• The juridical theory ignores the natural basis of the state.
• The legal point of the state ignores the higher life of the state.
• According to the juridical theory, the state creates laws. But this is not true. All laws are not created by the state. There are customs, convention usages which are recognized as law. The state cannot ignore them.
• The juridical theory is vague. There is a difference of opinion among the following theory.
• The juridical theory is inadequate. It can not be held good today. The state not only performs legal functions but a good number of other functions also.