Law, in its broadest sense, is a system of principles and rules imposed on individuals or communities by some authority commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong. In its narrowest sense, however, it refers to a specific set of positive rules regulating the behavior of citizens and governing their interactions with each other. The word is also used to denote the department of knowledge dealing with these rules and their observance: jurisprudence.
The aims of legal systems vary considerably, but most are intended to keep the peace, maintain the status quo, promote social justice, and allow for orderly social change. Some laws may have a particular moral basis, but others might be based solely on social convention or even recognition. Many laws, especially those of major nations, are designed to protect minority rights and to prevent oppression by majority groups.
A legal system should be clear, publicly available, stable and consistent, and enforced evenly. It should also guarantee property, contractual, and procedural rights. It should provide for human rights, and it should provide for the sanctity of private life. The processes by which the law is adopted, administered, adjudicated, and enforced should be fair, accessible, and competent (Hart 1953: 15-17).
Legal systems are a collection of laws defining what is and is not permitted in society. These laws can be written or unwritten, and they can cover a wide range of subjects. The legal system is an important part of a democracy and plays a crucial role in the lives of all citizens.
It is important to understand the differences between scientific laws and legal ones. The term “law” is often associated with absolutes, but in the case of science, a law is merely an explanation of a natural process. For example, the force of gravity between two objects (such as an apple and the Earth) is a law based on certain circumstances: the mass of the objects, their distance apart, and the amount of friction between them. A scientific law, unlike a legal one, can be changed through further research.
Some lawyers believe that the laws of a country should reflect its values, while others feel that law should be primarily a tool for achieving its goals. The philosopher Jeremy Bentham, for example, advocated a view of law that promotes good social consequences, while rejecting what he called vague, dogmatic, antiquated, and moralistic notions of natural rights as the basis for legal rights. He famously referred to the transplantation of natural rights into law as a form of “mischievous nonsense.”