The Meaning and Function of Law
Law is a system of rules, regulations and principles that are enforced by a political authority to govern a society. The main purposes of Law are establishing standards, maintaining order, resolving disputes and protecting liberty and rights.
Legal systems vary widely from country to country and even within a single nation. These differences are often due to the nature of the political landscape and prevailing security situations, but many legal systems do have similarities based on historically accepted justice ideals.
The word law is used to describe a set of principles and rules that are created by a government or society to deal with issues such as crime, trade, social relations and property. It is also used to refer to the professional field that focuses on advising people about the law, representing them in court or making decisions and punishing offenders.
While the definition of Law varies from person to person, most of the experts agree on a few key concepts. The most important concept is that laws are a form of guarantee, or promise, to the conditions of life for citizens. The promise is that, if a citizen does certain things, the state will guarantee their well-being. Other important concepts include that Law is a tool for balancing interests and that the purpose of law is to serve society not the individual.
Despite the fact that the Law is an ancient concept, modern jurists have a variety of theories about its meaning and function. The most common theory is that law is a means to an end, and the end is securing justice. Jurists have different ideas about how to achieve this goal, but all of them agree that the Law is a powerful tool for society.
There are several types of Law, including civil and criminal. Civil Law deals with disputes between individuals, while criminal law deals with offenses against a community or government.
Different theories about the meaning of Law include social, economic, and political perspectives. The sociological school of thought argues that the law is a product of the social habitat and experience, which is then adapted to the environment. This approach is similar to that of the anthropological school, which believes that the Law is a result of a combination of both cultural and natural factors.
Another theory is that Law is a set of normative propositions describing how the world ought to be. These normative propositions can be either obligatory or permissive and they are usually dictated by social, moral, or economic needs. These norms are categorized as claims, privileges, and powers and they determine what right-holders may do (claim-right), can’t do (privilege-right), or cannot change at all (power-right). These rights are active or passive and some are subjective while others are objective. The highest norm is called the grundnorm and it is what makes all the lower norms valid. The other norms are called second-order norms and they define what the right-holders can do or cannot do.
