Law is the set of rules and regulations developed by a governing authority on a particular area of life, such as crime, trade, social relations, property and finance. These laws are enforced by the governing body to ensure order and justice within society. Laws can be made by a legislative process resulting in statutes, by the executive through decrees and regulations, or by courts in common law systems through judicial precedent. Private individuals can also create legally binding contracts and use arbitration as a form of alternative dispute resolution.
There are many different theories about what law is and how it works. The majority of theorists agree that the function of law is to satisfy social needs, and to promote and secure justice. Law can be used to settle disputes between individuals, or between groups or companies, and it can also provide a framework for regulating industries such as utilities like water.
Some laws are explicitly based on religious precepts, such as the Jewish Halakha and Islamic Sharia. Religious law may be interpreted using a variety of techniques, including Qiyas (reasoning by analogy), Ijma (consensus) and the rule of precedent. Alternatively, the majority of the world’s legal systems are based on civil law, which is typically derived from Roman and canon law, and supplemented or modified by local custom and culture.
Other theorists have defined law as the system of rules which govern a specific area of life, controlled and enforced by a political authority. This is usually a government, and it can include rules about things like traffic or robbery. Laws may be enforceable by punishment, such as fines or imprisonment.
The idea of law has also been framed as a way to control society by ensuring that everybody follows the rules and pays their taxes. The concept of law has been criticized, however, because it removes any responsibility for people to consider moral and ethical issues, and it can be difficult to verify whether a given law is fair or not.
In practice, law is a complicated process of interpretation and negotiation. For example, if a legislature makes a change to a statute that would abridge the rights of citizens or make a major policy change, then courts will not interpret the statute in such a way that it does so. This is to avoid a conflict with previous decisions and to ensure that voters are aware of the changes that have been made. This is known as stare decisis.
