The idea of mishpat ivri as a western-style body of laws, distinct from the halakha which was deemed religious in nature, appeared in Mandate Palestine as a part of the zionist revivalist movement.
[1] The academic study of Mishpat Ivri spans the full geographic, literary, and historical range of halakha.
Within classical rabbinic Judaism, all Mishpat Ivri subjects are also subsumed under halakha (Jewish law in general).
Scholars of Mishpat Ivri typically adopt methodologies based on legal positivism.
While useful for comparative law purposes, the legal positivist approach to Mishpat Ivri has been questioned by some scholars, such as Hanina Ben-Menahem and Bernard Jackson.