What is LAW?

 What is Law?

In simple words, we can understand that Law is a set of rules, made for the people by the people to bring peace and harmony to their lives. It is a binding custom or practice of a community or state. 

It is a set of norms and guidelines including contract laws, regulatory laws, prohibition laws, personal laws etc. To balance the damage done by the victim against the person and society in general.

It is created and enforced by the bodies that have the power to enforce the law. These bodies may be corporate, social, or governmental institutions. It has been variously described as a science and the art of justice.

State-enforced laws can be made by a group legislature or by a single legislator, resulting in statutes; by the executive through decrees and regulations; or established by judges through precedent, usually in common law jurisdictions. 

Private individuals may create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that adopt alternative ways of resolving disputes to standard court litigation. 

The creation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution, written or tacit, and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people

• How can we define Law?

Law is defined as, “a set of special legal rules, enforceable by the courts, regulating the government of the state, the relationship between the organs of the state and relationship or conducts subjects towards each other.” It is a body of rules made by the legislature.

• Various Definitions of Law:-

There are broadly five definitions of Business Law.

1. Natural School 

In the natural school of thought, a court of justice decides all the laws. There are two main parts to this definition. One, to actually understand a certain law, an individual must be aware of its purpose. Two, to comprehend the true nature of law, one must consult the courts and not the legislature.

2. Positivistic Definition of Law

John Austin’s law definition states “Law is the aggregate set of rules set by a man as politically superior, or sovereign to men, as political subjects.” Thus, this definition defines law as a set of rules to be followed by everyone,  regardless of their stature.

Hans Kelsen created the ‘pure theory of law’. Kelsen states that law is a ‘normative science’. In Kelson’s law definition, the law does not seek to describe what must occur, but rather only defines certain rules to abide by.

3. Historical Law Definition

Friedrich Karl von Savigny gave the historical law definition. His law definition states the following theories.

• Law is a matter of unconscious and organic growth.
• The nature of law is not universal. Just like language, it varies with people and age.
• Custom not only precedes legislation but it is superior to it. Law should always conform to the popular consciousness because of customs.
• Law has its source in the common consciousness of the people.
• The legislation is the last stage of lawmaking, and, therefore, the lawyer or the jurist is more important than the legislator.

4. Sociological Definition of Law

Leon Duguit states that law is “essentially and exclusively as a social fact.”

Rudolph Von Ihering’s law definition. – “The form of the guarantee of conditions of life of society, assured by State’s power of  constraint.”

This definition has three important parts. 

• One, the law is a means of social control. 
• Two, the law is to serve the purposes of society. 
• Three, law due to its nature, is coercive. 

Roscoe Pound studied the term law and thus came up with his own law definition. He considered the law to be predominantly a tool of social engineering. Where conflicting pulls of political philosophy, economic interests, and ethical values constantly struggled for recognition. Against a background of history, tradition and legal technique. Social wants are satisfied by law acting which is acting as a social institution.

5. Realist Definition of Law

The realist law definition describes the law in terms of judicial processes. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes stated – “Law is a statement of  the circumstances in which public force will be brought to bear upon through courts.”

According to Benjamin Nathan Cardozo who stated “A principle or rule of conduct so established as to justify a prediction with reasonable certainty that it will be enforced by the courts if its authority is challenged, is a principle or rule of law.”

As the above law definitions state, human behaviour in society is controlled with the help of law. It aids in the cooperation between members of society. Law also helps to avoid any potential conflict of interest and also helps to resolve them.