The law is a set of rules created and implemented by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, the exact definition of which has been the subject of long-standing debates. It has been variously described as a science and as an art of justice. State-imposed laws may be enacted by a group legislature or by an individual legislature, resulting in statutes; by the executive branch through ordinances and ordinances; or set by judges by precedent, usually in common law jurisdictions. Private
individuals can enter into legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements, that accept alternative ways of resolving disputes to standard court procedures. Legislation itself can be influenced by a written or implied constitution and the rights enshrined therein. The law shapes politics, economy, history and society in many ways and also serves as a mediator for interpersonal relationships.
Legal systems differ between jurisdictions and their differences are analyzed in Comparative Law. In civil jurisdictions, a legislature or other central body codifies and consolidates the law. In common law systems, judges can create binding case law through precedents, although these can sometimes be overturned by a higher court or the legislature. Historically, religious law has influenced secular affairs and is still applied in some religious communities in the 21st century.Based on Islamic principles, Sharia Law is used as the main legal system in several countries, including Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The scope of the law can be divided into two areas. Public law relates to state and society, including constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law. Private law deals with litigation between individuals and/or organizations in areas such as contracts, property, tort/crime and commercial law. This distinction is stronger in civil law countries, particularly those with a separate system of administrative courts; In contrast, the gap between public and private law is less pronounced in
common law jurisdictions.
Law provides a resource for scholarly research in legal history, philosophy, economic analysis, and sociology. The law also raises important and complex issues of equity, equity and justice.
Philosophy of Law
The philosophy of law is commonly known as jurisprudence. Normative jurisprudence asks: "What should law be?", while analytical jurisprudence asks: "What is law?There have been various attempts to create "a universally acceptable definition of law," Williams said that the meaning of the word "law" depends on the context in which the word is used.He said that, for example, "original common law" and "city law" are contexts in which the word "law" has two distinct and irreconcilable
meanings. Thurman Arnold said it was obvious that defining the word "law" was impossible and that it was equally obvious that the struggle to define that word must never be abandoned. It can be assumed that there is no need to define the word "law".
One definition is that law is a system of rules and guidelines enforced by social institutions to regulate behavior. John Austin said the law was "the command of a sovereign, backed by the threat of sanctions"; and Joseph Raz argues that the law is an "authority" to mediate the interests of the people.In his Treatise on Law, Thomas Aquinas asserts that law is a rational order of things concerning the common good, promulgated by the one responsible for the care of the community. This definition of
has both positivistic and naturalistic elements.
Link to Morality and Justice
Legal definitions often raise the question of the extent to which the law includes morality. John Austin's utilitarian response was that law "are orders, backed by the threat of sanctions, from a sovereign whom the people are wont to obey". On the other hand, natural advocates such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau argue that law essentially reflects moral and immutable laws of nature.The concept of “natural law” arose in ancient Greek philosophy at the same time and in association with the notion of justice of , and re-entered mainstream Western culture through the writings of Thomas Aquinas, particularly his Treatise on Law .
Hugo Grotius, the founder of a purely rationalistic system of natural law, argued that law arises as much from a social impulse, as Aristotle had suggested, as from reason. Immanuel Kant believed that a moral imperative requires that laws "be chosen as if they were universal laws of nature." Jeremy Bentham and his student Austin believed, following David Hume, that this conflated the "is" and "should" problems. Bentham and Austin defended the postulate of the law