International Journal of Law

Authors
Kabiru Garba Muhammad

Abstract
Economic interpretation of law is rooted to Marxist theory of law. It is well known that Marxism is both part of the ideology of the Soviet Union and many other countries in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa; and a critical standard employed by many intellectuals throughout the world by which to measure existing institutions as well as a lodestar of revolutionary change. The recent economic analysis of law which has grown up principally in the United States is an attempt to offer a sophisticated scientific alternative to utilitarianism. One of the problems with utilitarianism is the lack of a method for calculating the effect of a decision or policy on the total happiness of the relevant population. It offers no reliable technique for measuring change in the level of satisfaction of one individual relative to a change in the level of satisfaction of another. This paper appraises the application of this theory of interpretation of law to Nigerian legal system.