Legal Literacy - The theory of legal expediency, proposed by Jeremy Bentham, argues that the purpose of law is to provide the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. This theory emphasizes the importance of law in creating order, justice, and social welfare.
Benefit according to the Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI) is use or advantage, profit or gain. From the above understanding, it can be said that the benefits obtained will certainly cause changes to a certain function in an institution. Expediency itself is the most important thing in a legal objective.
To understand the purpose of law, we need to know what is meant by the purpose itself. Only humans have a true purpose, but law is not a purpose for humans. Law is actually a tool used to achieve goals in the common life of society and the state. The purpose of law can be seen through its function as a protector of human interests; law has a target or objective to be achieved.
In Jeremy Bentham's theory of utilitarianism, the term "The greatest happiness of the greatest number" is always identified as happiness determined by the number of people, so the measure of majority happiness determines how the law is formed.
However, the term above is more appropriately interpreted as a guarantee of individual happiness that must be provided by the state to its citizens and eliminate suffering for the community through legal instruments. Thus, the benchmark of the legal instrument is "happiness" and "suffering."
Bentham's teaching is known for its individualistic nature, where his views are based on his great attention to individual interests. According to him, law primarily provides happiness to individuals, not directly to society.
However, Bentham still pays attention to the interests of society. For this reason, Bentham said that in order for the interests of one individual not to collide with the interests of another individual, they must be limited so that one individual does not become prey to another (homo homini lupus).
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Hereby, the Legal Utility Theory is essentially a view in legal science that proposes that law has the primary goal of providing benefits or goodness to society. This concept emphasizes that law should not only be binding formal rules, but also an instrument capable of creating order, justice, and prosperity in a society.
The view from the legal utility theory is reflected in the idea that law exists to provide benefits to society. This means that the law is present to provide goodness or benefits to many people.
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