Law is the system of rules a particular community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members. It is commonly understood to mean a set of strong, binding rules made by a controlling authority that citizens must obey or face punishment. However, it can also be used more broadly to refer to any strongly enforced rules that control or limit behaviour. For example, the rules of your parents’ house might be called laws if they must be obeyed or you could be convicted of a crime for breaking them. Law shapes politics, economics, history and society in many ways.
The study of law encompasses legal history and systems, legal philosophy, legal ethics and the relationship between law and other social sciences. Oxford Reference provides authoritative, accessible definitions and in-depth, specialist encyclopedic entries across this broad discipline. From criminal and tax law, to family, employment and international law, our law entries cover all areas of the subject.
Each country’s law is shaped by its own history and culture, as well as the wider global influences. The law is a powerful tool that can be used to achieve political ends. It can be used to keep peace, maintain the status quo, protect minority rights and promote social justice. However, it can also be used to oppress minorities or impose foreign rule (as illustrated by Burma under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein).
Law has a wide range of sub-disciplines. For example, tort law covers compensation for damages caused by negligence, such as car accidents or libel, while contract law deals with the terms of a commercial transaction. Criminal law, which concerns offences against a state or local community, can be governed by a wide variety of legislative and non-legislative instruments. Civil law concerns a citizen’s rights in courts, such as their right to a fair trial or hearing. Evidence law concerns which materials are admissible in court.
The philosophy of law is a broad area of research, with many schools of thought influencing its development. Hans Kelsen, for example, developed the pure theory of law, which states that law is a normative science that does not seek to describe what must occur but defines certain rules that citizens must abide by. Max Weber, on the other hand, reshaped thinking about the extension of the state’s power and the role of law.
The study of law can be a complex and fascinating subject. The power to make and enforce laws lies with a nation’s government, which can be democratic or authoritarian. There are also many different legal systems, reflecting the cultural and religious backgrounds of the nations that created them. In the modern world, law is increasingly shaped by globalization and the increasing interconnectedness of societies. This raises new issues about the role and scope of law that did not exist for earlier writers, such as Montesquieu and Locke. For this reason, it is important to understand the context of law’s existence and development.