Law is a system of rules that a society develops in order to govern its behavior, from criminal and civil proceedings to business agreements. The word can also be used to refer to a specific area of law, such as labor or family law.
Legal systems vary widely across the world, reflecting a combination of historical and cultural influences. For example, some countries have retained an ancient religious or judicial tradition while others have largely adopted the civil law of Europe. The legal system of each country is the result of its history and culture as well as its political and social circumstances.
In the most basic sense, law is a body of rules created by a sovereign (usually a monarch) and enforced through his or her power. As such, a tyrant’s arbitrary or bad laws could still be called “law” if they are backed by the power of a state to punish anyone who violates them.
However, the concept of law is more complex than this simple definition. Some philosophers suggest that law embodies moral considerations, such as fairness or a position against cruelty. Moreover, not all law is the result of a written rule set by a sovereign; international customary law is valid and enforceable, as is the case with most civil rights and privacy laws.
The jurisprudential community generally embraces this approach. It also supports the Holmesian notion that “law is the outcome of the average man’s experience in a given situation.”
For example, the average person who has witnessed several murders will probably have more confidence in the justice system than someone who has never experienced such an event. Thus, the average person’s interpretation of a murder trial or a car accident will be more likely to match that of an expert witness.
But this understanding of law is flawed. It is a faulty approximation of human nature and reflects an outdated, European-rooted idea of reality that splits the universe into natural and non-natural/human. It is difficult to imagine a legal theory that would overcome this fundamental dichotomy in a way that is useful for modern judicial and scientific purposes.
The legal system of each country is governed by its constitution, which may be either written or tacit, and the law enshrined within it. Other factors in determining the quality of a legal system include the extent to which core human, procedural and property rights are respected. For example, do people face equal punishment for crimes regardless of their wealth or status, and are mechanisms in place to prevent abuses of power? These are the essentials of good law. Law is a complex, constantly evolving subject, but it is essential to any well-functioning society.