Legal Systems Of World

have been leading their lives by following the guidelines and concepts given in the Vedas. These guidelines have evolved into rules followed by the people and enforced by the rulers and have thus become de facto law. In this modern times, the same laws have been retrofitted to suit present conditions and have been codified in the form of several acts of which the important ones are – Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956, and Hindu Succession Act 1956.

is also applied to Hindus in other countries such as Burma, Malaya, Kenya and Tanzania.
The word “Hindu used to refer to the ethnic group of people or Indians and, in the thirteenth century, the word “Hindu” was more widely used to distinguish them from the Islamic kingdoms within India.
Hinduism” was used during the British Rule in the nineteenth century to refer to the Hindu religious culture group as distinct from Christianity and Islam.
The following people are considered to be Hindu with respect to application of Hindu Law-
Hindu by Religion
Hindu by Birth
Persons who are not Muslim, Christian, Jew, or Parsee by religion.
Persons who are not governed by any other religious law will be governed by Hindu Law.

Hindu law

The key ideal before a Hindu has always been the achievement of the moksha, the attainment of salvation. Hindu law, over five thousand years has gone through phases. It is regarded that the origin of Hindu law is based on religious texts like the Vedas, the Upnishads, the Geeta, or any other Hindu scripture. A view emerging from these texts leads to the recognition of the law as Dharma. The term dharma can be loosely translated as “duty”. Many Hindu Jurists believe that Law is an enforceable part of  Dharma. Thus, the Law is Dharma.  The other view regarding the origin of Hindu law is that it is derived from customs and usages.  The belief is that the primary sources of Hindu laws are Shrutis, Smritis, Upnishads, customs, digests, and commentaries. The Hindu Laws practised during the colonization were based on Manusmriti. However, the genesis of Hindu law cannot be determined accurately owing to its centuries-old origin. 

legal system in the world. For about 2,500 years it was based on the same primary sources, Sanskrit texts composed between ca. 500 BCE and 500 CE. These texts (dharmaśāstras) were considered to be revealed, and were part of the eternal, unchangeable Veda. From about the seventh until the eighteenth century the basic texts became the object of numerous commentaries, in which each author integrated the entire body of often contradictory dharmaśāstras into coherent systems. In 1772 the British decided to apply the law of the dharmaśāstras to Hindus in the newly established Anglo-Indian courts of law. Yet, ignorance of the Sanskrit language, lack of familiarity with Hindu culture, and the common law background of British judges led to fundamental developments. In 1955–6 the Indian Parliament overruled most of traditional Hindu law with four modern Acts—on marriage, succession, minority and guardianship, and adoptions and maintenance.

a Hindu, who:
Is a Hindu by religion in any form.
Is a Buddhist, Jaina or Sikh by religion.
Is born from Hindu parents.Is not a Muslim, Parsi, Christian or Jews and are not governed under Hindu law.
Lodge in India.
Hindu by Religion:
If any person follows the religion by practising it or by claiming it can be called as a Hindu.
Conversion and Reconversion to Hinduism:
Under the codified Hindu law, any person converted to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism or Sikhism can be called a Hindu.
From the case of Perumal vs ponnuswami, we can say that a person can be called a Hindu by conversion. 

the digestives of the smritis. These schools have widened the scope of Hindu law and explicitly contributed to its development.
The schools of Hindu law are:- the Mitakshara and the Dayabagha.
The Mitakshara Mitakshara is one of the most important schools of Hindu law. It is a running commentary of the Smriti written by Yajnvalkya. This school is applicable in the whole part of India except in West Bengal and Assam. The Mitakshara has a very wide jurisdiction. However different parts of the country practice law differently because of the different customary rules followed by them.
Dayabhaga Dayabhaga school predominantly prevailed in Assam and West Bengal. This is also one of the most important schools of hindu laws. It is considered to be a digest for the leading smritis. Its primary focus was to deal with partition, inheritance and joint family. According to Kane, it was incorporated in between 1090-1130 A.D.
Dayabhaga school was formulated with a view to eradicating all the other absurd and artificial principles of inheritance. The immediate benefit of this new digest is that it tends to remove all the shortcomings and limitations of the previously established principles and inclusion of many cognates in the list of heirs,  which was restricted by the Mitakshara school.The difference arose because two different interpretations were given by the commentators to one word `pinda’.

Hindu Law’,
the ‘AngloHindu Law’, the ‘Modern Hindu Law’.
Classical Hindu law:- includes the diverse legal practices connected with the Vedic Traditions in some ways and existing from the Vedic times until 1772. This phase
Anglo-Hindu Law:- can be divided into two phases.
The first phase is the period between 1772 and 1864. This phase starts in 1772 when the British adopted rules for administration of justice in Bengal.
The second phase is the period between 1864 and 1947. After 1864, India was formally part of the British Empire, and in 1947, India became independent of the British.
Modern Hindu Law-The British adopted (especially during 1864 and 1947) the modern law or the English legal system and replaced the existing Indian laws, except for laws related to family or personal matters like marriage, inheritance and succession of property. Family law or the personal law applicable to Hindus is the Modern Hindu Law

very vital role and it govern the persons who comes with in the perview of hindu. In ancient period Hindu law had only its divine nature i.e., law of the God, but in now days its nature has totally changed. Its devine nature has been seized by its interpretation, enacting laws and also by the judicial precedents. By the interpretation of the ancient sources of Hindu law, its scope has become very wide. Modern sources of Hindu law has a colossal importance, in the evolution of modern Hindu law.