Law is a set of rules created by the state that form a framework to ensure a peaceful society and are enforced by the government with sanctions put in place for those who break them. A wide variety of books and debates have taken place concerning what exactly law is, and many different views have emerged.
The term law is often used to refer to the criminal justice system, but it can also be a general term for any set of rules that must be followed. For example, a family’s house rules might be described as laws, or the instinctive behavior that might save someone from being killed in an attack might be called a “law” as well. Law is also a term for the professions that deal with this area, such as lawyers or judges.
In some schools of thought, law is simply power. This view says that laws are obeyed because they are orders, backed by threats of sanction, from a sovereign authority. This view is sometimes referred to as legal positivism.
Other views about law take a more philosophical approach. For example, Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarian theory of law states that the purpose of law is to satisfy social wants. He believed that this was done by allowing people to know what the legal consequences of their actions would be so they could plan accordingly. Others, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Thomas Aquinas, have argued that law is based on moral principles.
A common belief is that law should be stable so that people can plan their affairs with confidence. This is usually achieved by the principle of stare decisis, where decisions made by higher courts bind lower courts to follow them. It is also important to have clear and consistent legal rules, which are easily understood and can be applied consistently.
The disadvantage of this is that a legal system that is not flexible cannot keep up with a changing society. This can cause hardship and injustice to the people. This is why some argue for a judicial review of laws to remove those that are deemed unfair or unjust. Another problem is excessive formalism, where too much emphasis is placed on the way a law is written rather than its substance. This can lead to delays in dispensing justice to the people. Moreover, the judicial review process can lead to corruption as some judges may not be impartial in their judgements. It is therefore essential that the independence of judges is maintained and that this is not compromised in any way.