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The Basics of Law

Law is the system of rules and principles a society establishes to govern its citizens, organizations and activities. It serves many purposes, but four are central: establishing standards and norms of behaviour, maintaining order, resolving disputes and protecting liberties and rights. The study of law is a broad field that encompasses everything from the specifics of a given jurisdiction’s laws to the broader questions of ethics, sociology and philosophy.

The fundamental question in law is whether or not a given legal regime consists of precepts that are morally right, empirically valid and socially just. Laws cannot mandate behaviours that are unattainable and they must take into account the shape of the physical world and its limitations, so that they do not force people to do things that are beyond their capacities. Furthermore, they must respect the autonomy of the individual and prevent abuses of power by giving checks and balances to the three branches of a government, known as separation of powers.

Among the main areas of law are civil, criminal, administrative and constitutional law. Other important concepts include: precedent – a previous court decision that is binding on other courts when they deal with similar issues, unless it can be shown that the earlier case was wrongly decided or significantly different in its facts and circumstances. In addition, the decisions of courts with the authority to review their own cases are generally considered to be binding precedent on lower-level courts.