Critically examine Roscoe Pound's theory of interests.

Roscoe Pound, a distinguished American legal scholar, drew a similarity between the task of a lawyer and an engineer and gave his theory of social engineering. The goal of this theory was to build such a structure of society where the satisfaction of maximum wants was achieved with the minimum of friction and waste. Such a society, according to Roscoe Pound, would be an 'efficient' society. Realisation of such a social structure would require balancing of competing interests. Roscoe Pound defined interests as claims or wants or desires which men assert de facto, and about which law must do something, if organised societies are to endure. For any legal order to be successful in structuring an efficient society, there has to be a recognition of certain interests – individual, public and social; a definition of the limits within which such interest will be legally recognized and given effect to and securing of those interests within the limits as defined. According to Roscoe Pound, for determining the scope and the subject matter of the legal system, following five things are required to be done: Preparation of an inventory of interests and their classification. Selection of the interests which should be legally recognized. Demarcation of the limits of securing the interest so selected. Consideration of the means whereby laws might secure the interests when these have been acknowledged and delimited, and Evolution of the principles of valuation of interests. Roscoe Pound's classification of interests are as follows: Individual interest: These are claims or demands determined from the standpoint of individual's life and concern. They are Interest of personality; Interest in domestic relations and Interest of substance. Public interest: These interests are asserted by individual from the standpoint of political life. They are Interests of the state as a juristic person and Interests of the state as guardian of social interest. Social interests: These are claims or demands thought of in terms of social life and generalized as claims of the social group. It is from the point of view of protecting the general interest of all members of the society.