Law is the set of rules that govern a society, a government or an organization. Law is used to protect the rights of people, enforce contracts and settle disputes. A career in Law is an attractive option for many students. There are many types of Laws, including administrative, civil and criminal laws. Laws shape politics, economics and history in many ways.
The word “law” can also be used to describe anything that is strong and must be followed, like your parents’ house rules or the instinctive behavior of trying to save your life when you are in danger. Law is a very broad concept and there are many different theories about it. Hans Kelsen developed the pure theory of law, which states that law is a normative science, meaning it defines certain rules to abide by, but does not describe why those rules should exist. Another theory, called historical law, suggests that customs precede legislation and that the laws should conform to common consciousness (Volkgeist) in order to be effective.
A third approach, called legal realism, views law as a social institution that serves the purposes of society by serving as a mediator of relationships among individuals. Legal realists believe that law should take into account social and economic considerations that are not captured by the written laws themselves, although these considerations may be implicit in the written law itself.
Some of the most common fields of Law include contract law, which covers agreements between two or more people; property law, which governs a person’s ownership of tangible objects, such as land and buildings, and their intangible property, such as bank accounts and shares of stock; and tort law, which determines damages when someone is hurt by another’s negligence. Law also includes field such as immigration and nationality law, which deals with the rights of foreign citizens to enter a country or acquire citizenship, and family law, which encompasses marriage, divorce and child custody issues.
The United States uses the common law system of governing its affairs, which originated in England in the 17th century and was brought to America by immigrants. The Constitution grants Congress the power to enact statutes, and these are often codified in a federal code. The executive branch has the power to create regulations, and these, as well as judicial decisions, have broader legal weight known as “stare decisis” or precedent.
The legal system varies around the world, reflecting regional traditions. In Europe, French and German civil law predominate, with some influence from the Islamic legal tradition. India and Malaysia use a hybrid of secular and religious law, while countries in eastern Asia follow the common law model. In the United States, there is a mixture of both common and civil law, with most legislation at the state level and some at the federal level. Increasingly, however, the federal and state governments have consolidated their laws into a single system that is generally easy to understand.