Law is the system of rules that a society or government develops in order to deal with crime, business agreements, social relationships and more. It can also be used to refer to a particular branch of the legal system, such as criminal law or corporate law. The word law can also be used to describe the people who work in the legal system, such as judges or prosecutors. When someone says they are “breaking the law” or that something is against the law, they mean it is against the rules of their country or society and could result in punishment like fines or jail time.
Law has four main functions: establishing standards, maintaining order, resolving disputes and protecting liberty and rights. Different legal systems achieve these goals in different ways. For example, a nation ruled by an authoritarian government may keep the peace and maintain the status quo but also oppress minorities or resist democratic change.
Legal systems vary in their approach to these issues, but most share the core concepts of a hierarchy of authority and a recognition of individual rights. The hierarchy of authority consists of legislative statutes, executive regulations and judicial decisions. In common law systems (which account for about 60% of the world’s population), judicial decisions are binding and have the same legal authority as legislative statutes and executive regulations. Judicial decisions are based on the principle of stare decisis, which means that a decision made in one case is likely to be followed by other courts in similar cases.
A number of philosophical traditions have developed theories about the nature and purpose of law. Utilitarian philosopher John Austin, for example, argued that law is a set of commands, backed by the threat of sanctions, from a sovereign to whom people have a habit of obedience. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, on the other hand, argued that law reflects natural, moral laws of human nature.
There are numerous other fields of law, including labour law, which covers the tripartite industrial relationship between worker, employer and trade union; property law, which deals with ownership of land and buildings; administrative law, which deals with how governments operate; and evidence law, which concerns what materials can be presented in court cases.
There are also many sub-fields of law, such as constitutional law, international law and family law. Constitutional law is concerned with how a government or parliament operates within its own borders, and international law is concerned with the resolution of disputes between nations. Family law is concerned with marriage, divorce and other legal matters relating to the family unit. The field of law is constantly changing, and new areas of interest are emerging all the time. This is because the laws of the state reflect the values and interests of the society that creates them. The changes to the legal system reflect changes in society, and society itself has a direct effect on the way the law is created and enforced.
