Law is a system of rules that a society or government develops in order to deal with crime, business agreements and social relationships. It is often enforced by a controlling authority through penalties. Law can also be a term used to refer to the people who work in this system.
The study of the law is called legal science or legal studies. There are many different areas of law, including criminal, family, employment and international laws. Each area of law has its own specialized terminology and vocabulary. For example, a lawyer working on employment issues will use completely different language from one who is discussing family law. In addition, each country has its own law system, with some having a common law system and others having a civil law system. In a common law system, decisions made by judges are recognized as laws on equal footing with legislative statutes and executive regulations. This is called the doctrine of precedent, or stare decisis, meaning that previous decisions will guide future judges when reaching a decision on similar cases. Civil law systems typically have a written constitution and a set of judicial rules for conducting trials and hearings.
Historically, there have been several theories of the nature of law. Hans Kelsen created the ‘pure theory of law’, which defined law as a ‘normative science’ that does not attempt to describe what must occur, but rather defines certain rules that individuals must abide by.
Some scholars have argued that the concept of law is inherently moral. For example, John Austin posited that law is a collection of commands, backed by the threat of sanctions, from a sovereign to his subjects as political citizens. Others, such as Jeremy Bentham, have argued that the purpose of law is to serve the interests of the majority.
Legal topics include constitutional and administrative law, criminal law, civil rights, property, family and commercial law, labour law, and jurisprudence. Constitutional and administrative law concern how a government is structured, with most countries having a written constitution that sets out the responsibilities of the executive, legislature and judiciary and enshrines citizens’ rights. Other topics are public international law, private international law and conflict of laws.
Law firms and other organizations often publish research insights on the laws in their areas of practice. These can be articles or blog posts. These insights can provide a high level overview of the latest changes to the law and discuss their implications. They may also offer a critique of recent changes to the law. Research insights are generally more formal than blog posts and often contain extensive footnotes. They are primarily intended for a general audience, but may also be of interest to academics and professionals in other fields. They are not intended to replace a full legal text.