introduction to law

•INTRODUCTION TO LAW

•INTRODUCTION

•Introduction

Many of the world’s greatest philosophers have pictured about the nature and meaning of law.

The study of legal philosophy is called jurisprudence.

Jurisprudential philosophers ask questions like these: What is law? how is it different from other kinds of rules? What roles does it play in our lives? Is bad law still law? Is custom law? Is law what it says in the statute books, or what really happens in practice? Philosophers have debated the essential nature of law for centuries, yet there is no single commonly accepted definition.

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The law affects every aspect of our lives; it governs our

conduct from the cradle to the grave and its influence

even extends from before our birth to after our death.

We live in a society which has developed a complex

body of rules to control the activities of its members.

There are laws which govern working conditions (e.g. by

laying down minimum standards of health and safety),

laws which regulate leisure pursuits (e.g. by banning

Alcohol and other drags ) and laws which control personal relationships(e.g. by prohibiting marriage between same marriages).

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What is law?

•The term “law” is used in deferent senses in various science. It means  the uniformity or fixedness of action and behaviour of thing or phenomenon.

•It is derived from the old Germanic word “Log” which means something fixed or unchanged. But this term came to be differently understood in the two  great divisions of science, physical and social.

•In physical sense, law denotes/indicates the principle of uniformity in behavior or movement of the things. Such as the law of gravity, the law of motion in physics.

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•In social sense, law is used in two different senses:

•1) uniformity of occurrence or behavior in social process; e.g. laws of demand and supply in economic. 2) it is used in a different sense, as explained here Man’s behavior is motivated by will, desire or even by caprice(a sudden desire or change of mind). 

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Definition of law

Salmond: ”laws are interest recognised and enforced by the courts of law in the administration of justice”.

Holland: an English jurist says: “law is a general rule of  external action, enforced by a sovereignty political authority”.

H.L.A.Hart: “law is the primary norm which organize the sanction”.

Law: The law is a set of rules, enforceable by the courts, which regulate/ control the government of the state and govern the relationship between the state and its citizens and between one citizen and another.

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Analyses of law

If we analyze the nature of positive law, we find that it consists of six characters;

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ØUniformity: law is a general or uniform rule of human conduct. It requires that an individually will always do or refrain from doing something.

ØUniversality: law is applied to the whole public community. It is meant for all individuals who live in the state. Law is universal, because no person or group of persons can claim exemption from its obedience.

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ØExternality: positive law or law of state deals only with the external acts and not with inner thoughts or intentions of an individual, as the moral rules do.

ØContent :most of laws are the statements of rights and duties. This is their real purpose.

ØFormulation: the law must be recognized as such when framed by the state, that is, by its legislative organ.

ØSanction : law is enforced by the state. It punishes those who violate it.

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Functions of law

i)Establish or set up rules of conduct and Regulate human interaction

ii)Keeping the peace. Provide a system of enforcement.

iii)Protect rights and freedoms and remedy wrongs.

iv)Protect society and Enforce moral beliefs

v)Resolve Disputes.

vi) Maintain order in society and Promote orderly social change

vii)Define the economic situation

viii)Identify wrongdoers and order punishment and retribution or reprisal.

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Cont.

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself”. James Madison ([1787], 1961, 349)

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