Law is a set of rules created and enforced by governmental or social institutions to regulate human behavior and to ensure a peaceful society. Law is also considered a system of justice and is often defined as a set of principles promoting morality, rationality, order, and honesty. While the precise definition of law is open to debate, most legal systems have certain elements in common.
Law may be created and enforced at the local, state, national or international level. Laws may be enacted by legislature, resulting in statutes; by the executive, through decrees and regulations; or by judges, through decisions that have broader legal weight that can apply to future cases (known as precedent).
It is important for individuals and society to understand the role of laws in their lives. The creation and enforcement of laws shapes politics, economics, history and culture in various ways. It is important to note that not everyone agrees about the nature of law, with many people viewing it as a tool of oppression.
Some people view law as a mechanism for controlling human behavior through the use of force and threats. This is sometimes referred to as the power theory of law. This theory states that whether or not a law is good or bad, it will be followed if there is the power behind it to do so. This was the case with tyrants like Hitler who killed six million Jews and Saddam Hussein who tortured and murdered minority Sunni Muslims in Iraq, both of whom used their arbitrary laws to justify their actions.
Other theories of law focus on the role that custom plays in influencing laws. The theory of law by Hans Kelsen, for example, describes law as a ‘normative science’. This means that laws are not created by humans but are instead a result of the common consciousness of a society. For this reason, laws should always reflect what the community believes to be right and wrong.