What is Law?

In everyday life people use the word law in many different ways. Actually the word law is very difficult to define. There is a field of law that is known as "jurisprudence", which analyzes the concept of law and is concerned with the philosophy of law. Throughout the centuries people have attempted to define law and to set forth its role in society.

In considering the numerous definitions of law and philosophy of law it must be recognized that one of the roles of law is to maintain order and that this is the function of the criminal laws. Another role of law is to resolve disputes that arise between individuals and to impose responsibility if one person has a legal claim against another. Between these two extremes of what might be called law and order on the one hand and settlement of disputes on the other, there are many situations that cannot be so clearly defined. For example, the income tax laws require that a person pay an income tax. If he fails to do so, or if he fails to declare all his income or takes improper deductions, he may be subjected to penalties, but he has also failed to live up to his obligations to society. In any event it is important that one bear in mind that the law is not simply a statement of rules of conduct but is also the means whereby remedies are afforded when one person has wronged another. In one sense all issues and disputes in our society - political, social, religious, economic, or otherwise-ultimately become legal issues to be resolved by the courts. Thus it can be said that law is simply what the courts determine it to be as an expression of the public will in resolving these issues and disputes.

Another view of law is that it is a method of social control — an instrument of social, political, and economic change.'Really law is both an instrument of change and a result of changes that take place in our society. It is difficult to determine whether the law brings about changes in our society or whether changes in society bring about a change in the law. In our legal system both are true. The law-responding to the goals, desires, needs, and aspirations of society is in a constant state of change. Sometimes the law changes more rapidly than does the attitude of the majority of society. In this event the law and our legal system provide leadership in about changes. At other times our society is ahead of the law in moving in new directions, and changes are brought about by the people who act according to their new attitude and convictions. When these changes are accepted by the rest of society, it often happens that the law then gives approval and recognition of the changes, and the law has thus been brought into line with the changing needs of society. For example, in the field of ecology various groups have put pressure on legislators to clean up the air and water. As a result of this laws have been enacted that require that devices be installed to control pollution. Here the public pressure resulted in the enactment of laws and the law was a follower rather than a leader. It is important to note that the law is not static - that it is constantly changing and that the impetus for the changes may come from many different sources.

In still another sense law has been defined as the rules and principles that are applied by the courts to decide lawsuits. These rules and principles fall into three categories:

1) laws that have been passed by legislative bodies, such as the Congress and state legislatures, together with the federal Constitution and the state constitutions and treaties that have been duly entered into;

2) common law or case law — the law that is derived from cases decided by the courts;

3) procedural rules that determine how lawsuits are handled in the courts with regard to rules of evidence, enforcement of judgments, appeals, and related matters.

It will be noted that the first two elements provide the rules that are applied by the courts to decide controversies and that the third provides the machinery whereby these rules of what is called substantive law are given effect and applied to resolve controversies.

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