Law is a set of rules that are created and enforced by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior. Its precise definition is a matter of longstanding debate. Law shapes politics, economics, history and society in many ways. It has been characterized as a science and as an art.
Law varies from country to country. A general distinction can be made between (i) civil law jurisdictions, where a central body codifies and consolidates their laws; and (ii) common law systems, where judges rely on case-law precedent. Some nations use a hybrid system, which mixes elements of both types of law.
A key concept in law is the idea of authority. As with other social concepts, law is shaped by the power structure of the culture. In modern societies, the dominant power is centralized in the form of a government. This power is exercised through a hierarchy of institutions, with the top of the pyramid being the executive branch. Other important legal concepts include equality, fairness and justice.
The purpose of law is to promote public well being through enforcing standards that are publicly promulgated and evenly enforced. These standards are meant to protect fundamental human rights and ensure that the State itself is accountable to the law. This requires measures to ensure the supremacy of law, equal enforcement of the law, accountability to the law, separation of powers, legal certainty, participation in decision making and judicial independence.
In addition to being a source of legislation, the law also provides a basis for scholarly inquiry in areas such as legal history, philosophy, political analysis and sociology. In the context of Christian anthropology, the study of law is especially valuable because it offers a way for Christians to think about their relationship to the government and to their fellow citizens.
Law has many branches, including criminal law, civil law and family law. Criminal law deals with conduct that is considered harmful to the community and can be punished by incarceration or fines. Civil law, on the other hand, is the resolution of disputes between individuals or organizations.
Whether or not a law is just depends on how it is applied. For example, a terrorism case may be handled differently in different countries. In some cases, the terrorism case would be heard in a court that has jurisdiction over all crimes, and the judges would be the same as those who would hear non-terrorism cases. In other cases, the terrorism case would be heard by special courts that are intended to focus on the unique issues involved in terrorist crimes. These may be national courts that specialize in terrorism cases, or slightly different versions of the nation’s regular courts.