Law is a set of rules created and enforced by a government to ensure a safe and peaceful society. It is the basis for everything that the police, governments and other public institutions do, as well as the rights of citizens and individuals. Laws also protect private property and ensure that people receive fair treatment by others, whether it is in employment or in a dispute over a piece of land.
It is difficult to give a precise definition of law, because legal systems differ and the concepts vary greatly among individuals. A common view is that a law is something that is enforced, either through penalties or a system of social pressures or customs that have evolved over time.
A law may be passed by a legislative body, resulting in statutes; created by the executive through decrees and regulations; or established through judicial decisions, such as those found in a common law legal system where judgments bind lower courts. In other countries, laws are based on codes that explicitly lay out the rules and prevent judicial interpretation, such as in a civil law system.
Some philosophers believe that a law is simply power: orders, backed by the threat of sanctions, issued by a sovereign to whom people have a natural habit of obedience. The jurisprudence of Jeremy Bentham is an example of this theory. Others, like Hans Kelsen, believe that a law is a “normative science” that simply defines certain standards to abide by.
Law can be very complex, and a large number of different careers revolve around it. For example, lawyers and judges deal with disputes over contracts and property; criminal and labour law examine how to treat the rights of citizens; and international law looks at issues such as human rights and the relationship between states.
In order to function properly, a state requires laws that are clear and publicly available, equally enforced and enforceable, with appropriate checks and balances on the government’s powers. This is known as the “rule of law.” Attempts to achieve this goal are often complicated by the fact that different countries have their own approaches to defining and creating laws, the ways in which they are enforced and the structures of their courts. This has led to a wide variety of theories about the nature of law. The most significant of these is the idea that a law includes not only written documents but also a’spirit’ or ‘intent’ that guides it. This is sometimes referred to as ‘natural law’, and is associated with the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Aquinas. This view has gained traction in some legal systems, although the exact relationship between law and morality is still a subject of debate. Other views include the idea that a law contains not only the written word but also includes an unwritten code that is inferred from the written law, and the concept of ‘natural justice’. This is the idea that a judge’s discretion should be guided by general principles of fairness and equity, and the notion that a ‘fair trial’ is fundamental to the law.