Law is the system of rules that a society or government develops in order to deal with crime, business agreements, social relationships, property and finance. It is also a term that can be used to describe the profession of lawyers, judges and other people who work in this area.
A law can be a rule that says it is against the law to make obscene phone calls, or it can be a scientific rule that states that a certain natural process always leads to a particular result. Laws are usually in place to control behavior and make things fair for all parties involved.
There are many different definitions of Law, but most describe it as the legal body that exists in a politically organized society. Others describe it more broadly, as the general principle of adjustment of relationship and order conduct.
Some Jurists define law as a command of a sovereign backed by sanction. This view ignores the idealistic and moral aspects of law. Other Jurists have tried to define law more logically. John Austin, a British Jurist, developed an analytical positivism that viewed law as a collection of rational rules without reference to values, morality or idealism.
Another Jurist, Hans Kelsan, defines law as a hierarchy of norms that are either primary (claiming or privilege rights) or secondary (powers or immunities). The primary norms determine what right-holders ought to do and may do; the power and immunities determine whether they can do something. He also argues that there is a highest norm known as the grundnorm, which is the combination of the primary and secondary rules of recognition.
Still other Jurists have taken a sociological approach to the study of law. They look at the effects of law on society and how laws change over time. This type of study is important for judging whether the law has served its purpose, or whether it needs to be revised or abolished.
Other types of laws include case law, statute law and the law of nature. Statute law is a written document that establishes the rules for a particular situation. Case law is a series of court decisions that establish how other laws, like statutes and case precedent, should be applied to a specific situation.
The law of nature is a set of indisputable, universal principles that govern the natural world. For example, gravity is a law of nature that states that objects will fall to the ground unless they are pushed up by another object or force. These are considered natural laws because they have been observed over a long period of time and are consistent with other observations. Other natural laws, such as the law of thermodynamics, are more complex and can only be observed indirectly or inferred from other phenomena. In addition, the laws of science are usually based on theories developed by scientists over time. This is because scientists observe and experiment with natural processes, but they can’t predict the outcome of a particular natural event.