Law permeates every facet of society influencing relationships, governance and commerce. It is a complex area of study and is continually evolving. Roscoe Pound defined law as a means of social control, serving the purposes of the society through coercive methods.
Generally speaking, the term law is used to describe any strong rule that must be followed. Rules made by a government, such as driving laws and environmental regulations, are examples of laws that are widely enforced. In addition to formal laws, societal viewpoints on morality, justice and order can also be considered laws.
A person’s own instinctive behaviors can be described as laws, too. For example, the law of self-preservation may be interpreted as a person’s natural reaction to being in danger. Legal systems differ in their structure, organization and process. This guide provides an overview of the major fields in law, as well as important debates in legal theory.
The law is created in different ways by the different types of governing bodies. Constitutional law defines how a government is organized and the powers of its various branches; it also sets out the fundamental rights of citizens. Regulatory law is the set of rules developed by executive and administrative agencies to implement statutes. Statutory law is the set of formal laws passed by legislatures, which are often referred to as codes or treatises. Judges must interpret these laws to decide on specific cases. The careful reading and analysis of court decisions to discover the principles they support is called case law analysis. A common rule for interpreting statutes is the maxim, “lex specialis derogate legi generali.” In other words, a specific statute cannot supersede or detract from the broader legal framework that supports it.