What is Law?

Law is a body of rules created and enforced by social or governmental institutions to regulate behaviour. It shapes politics, economics, history and society in a range of ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people. It is also often regarded as a science and as an art.

The most common functions of the law include:

providing a system for settling disputes and resolving grievances; establishing a framework for individual freedom, liberty of conscience, privacy and property; promoting national unity and security; and ensuring equality of opportunity and access to justice. Law varies from place to place, however, and the way it is applied can be profoundly affected by political and economic factors.

Legal philosophy, practice and theory are complex subjects, with a rich academic literature on the subject. A broad distinction can be made between (a) civil law jurisdictions, where a legislature or other central body codifies laws; and (b) common law systems, where judge-made precedent is binding on future cases. Religious laws such as Islamic Sharia law are also widely practised in some countries.

Historically, the law developed from custom and case law through a process of evolution that is still at work today. The modern formal sources of law are statutes or legislation and judicial precedents, with persuasive forms of law such as customs and societal norms taken into account where binding forms are not available. Blackstone said judges are depositories of law, ‘living oracles,’ bound by an oath to decide on the facts and apply the law in a case.