{{Short description|Legal philosophy}} '''Correlative''' ("corelative," UK spelling) is the term adopted by Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld to describe the philosophical relationships between fundamental legal concepts in jurisprudence.
== Hohfeldian analysis ==
Hohfeld was concerned that there was some ambiguity in the explanation of the similarities and differences between concepts in law. Hence, with the focus on the nature of ''rights'', he proposed a system of analysis based on "jural correlatives" and "jural opposites". A correlative is where two concepts are logically consistent and the one necessarily implies the other. When two concepts are Hohfeldian opposites (technically, logical contradictions), they are mutually exclusive.
Thus, if A has a right with regard to B, an analysis of their relationship from B's point of view must imply that B has a duty to A. An owner of land may hold four distinct entitlements: rights, privileges, powers, and immunities. Hohfeld linked each entitlement to a correlative and its opposite:
{| style="width:250px; height:200px" border="1" |- | '''Elements''' | '''Correlatives''' | '''Opposites''' |- style="height:100px" | Right | style="width:250px" |Duty | No Right |- | Privilege or Liberty | No Right | Duty |- style="height:100px" | Power | style="width:250px" |Liability | Disability |- style="height:100px" | Immunity | style="width:250px" |Disability | Liability |- |- |}
==In practice== Jurists such as Mickey Dias and Hohfeld have declared that rights and duties are ''jural corelatives'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Dias |title=Jurisprudence |year=1976 |first=Reginald Walter Michael |oclc=2668655 }}</ref> which means that if someone has a right, ''someone else'' owes a duty to him.
== See also ==
== References == {{Reflist}}
* Hohfeld, W. N. ''Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning'', ed. by W.W. Cook (1919); reprint, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, (1964).
Category:Philosophy of law Category:Human rights Category:Concepts in political philosophy