Law is a set of rules that regulate behavior and have consequences for people who break them. It is created and enforced by social or governmental institutions, and its precise nature has been the subject of longstanding debate.
Some scholars define law as a tool of social control, imposing certain norms and punishing those who violate them. Roscoe Pound, for example, saw it as primarily coercive. Others have argued that the purpose of law is to serve social wants and needs, with a legal system providing an important mediator of relations between individuals.
Legal systems vary from nation to nation, but in most cases, the power to make and enforce laws is vested in the people. This power can be exercised through a constitution, written or tacit, as well as through other mechanisms such as checks and balances on the government’s power or a free press. The law is often shaped by the aspirations of the nation-state’s population, such as greater rights for citizens.
The scope of the law is vast. It includes areas such as labour law, which deals with a tripartite industrial relationship between worker, employer and trade union and involves regulation of things like the minimum wage and health and safety. It also includes civil and criminal procedure, which are the rules courts must follow as trials and appeals proceed. It also involves evidence law, which governs which materials are admissible in a court case. Law also involves constitutional law, which focuses on the principles that are important to a society such as the separation of powers or a democracy.