INTRODUCTION TO LAW

DEFINITION OF LAW ACCORDING TO DIFFERENT JURISTS:

THURMAN ARNOLD:

“Obviously, law can never be defined”

Savigny :

According to Savigny, "law is the rule whereby the invisible

borderline is fixed w ith in w hich th e b e in g a n d th e a ctivity o f e a ch
in d ivid u a l o b ta in s a se cu re a n d free sp a ce ."

Austin :

" Law is the aggregate of rules set by men as politically superior,

or sovereign, to men as politically subject."
“Law is a command of the sovereign backed by a sanction.”

Pound :
Pound defines law as, "Social Institution to satisfy social wants"

Salmond
According to Salmond " Law is the body of principles recognised
and a p p lie d b y th e S ta te in th e a d m in istra tion o f Ju stice .

Henry Maine:
The word ‘law’ has come down to us in close association with two
notions, the notion of order and the notion of force.
PURPOSE AND FUNCTION OF LAW:

Law is a social science which grows and develops alongside the

growth and development of the community. Modern developments
in the community create new problems and law is required to
enforce with such problems. The law serves many purposes and
functions in society. Four principal purposes and f u n c t i o n s
are establishing s t a n d a r d s , maintaining order, resolving
disputes, and protecting liberties and rights.

1 Establishing Standards

The law is a guidepost for minimally acceptable behavior in

society. Some activities, for instance, are crimes because
society (through a legislative body) has determined that it will not
tolerate certain behaviors that injure or damage persons or their
property. For example, under a typical state law, it is a crime to
cause physical injury to another person without justification—
doing so generally constitutes the crime of assault.
2 Maintaining Order

This is an offshoot of establishing standards. Some semblance of order is

necessary in a civil society and is therefore reflected in the law.
The law—when enforced—provides order consistent with society’s
guidelines.

3 Resolving Disputes

Disputes are unavoidable in a society made of persons with

different needs, wants, values, and views. The law provides a
formal means for resolving disputes—the court system. There is a
federal court system, and each state has its own separate court
system. There are also various fewer formal means for
resolving disputes—collectively called alternative dispute
resolution (ADR).
4 Protecting Liberties and Rights

The constitutions and statutes of the States and its constituent

units provide for various liberties and rights. A purpose and
function of the law is to protect these various liberties and rights
from violations or unreasonable intrusions by persons,
organizations, or government. For example, subject to certain
exceptions, the First Amendment to the Constitution of USA
prohibits the government from making a law that prohibits the
freedom of speech. Someone who believes that his free speech
rights have been prohibited by the government may pursue a
remedy by bringing a case in the courts. We have probably
realized that laws may serve more than one principal function and
there are obviously more principal functions than the four that we
have identified.

Role of law in Society: - Without law our society would be

chaotic, uncivilized mess and anarchy would reign supreme. The
role that laws has in society is that it creates a norm of conducts
in the society we live in. law s are made to protect its citizen from
harm. It set in way that all citizens are given equal opportunity,
protection from harm no matter your race, Gender, religion and
social standing. Under the law all its citizens are guarantee
equal protections. In society laws are made to promote the
common good for everyone. That is sets up Guideline for
everyone in society to act in way that brings the Greater Good.
Everyone acted without thinking about the Greater Good,
society would revert to those days where survival of the fittest
was the common sight. We live in world where we have finite
number of resources should share or used. Laws are made on
how to manage these and how we resolve if issues arise over
these resources. If know laws were in place these sources would
be controlled by the string and the wealthy.

The Importance of Law in our Lives and in the Society

We all know that law is very important in the society. It is a must

for a society to be peaceful and problem-free. Law is a man-made
therefore it is in you if you will follow it or not. If you do not follow
the law, it doesn’t mean you will die, so nature has nothing to do
on the laws of man.

1. The law is something that the human has created to

modulate the society by introducing justice, fairness and
equality that is set by courts and governments and is
applied to everyone within their jurisdiction.

2. The law can give protection to the victims and will punish
those who have done unlawful actions. You don’t have any
option where you can choose from, if you disobey, then, you
have to face the consequences. If a society won’t have a
system of law on it that will control how the people operates
 their lives, then there would not be a society to live in.

3. people will be able to make decisions that will solely be

based on their principles, then they would be able to do
crimes if they want to, steal, murder, damage, bully, rape,
trespass, and even terrorize what and whom when they
wanted want to, and nothing would be done about it at all.

Therefore, it will be a disaster if not possible if people in a

society will do actions that is solely based on their
principles. If there won’t be law, nothing will stop the people on
doing things that they want, with that, they will be free
to do revenge and it will be vice-versa for they know that they
could totally get away unto anything they do, even if it is bad
and unlawful. Eventually, the society will be full of crimes,
murders, and illegal actions. If there won’t be no rules
in a society, then even a simple waste disposal will be a big
problem that could affect the whole world. If not done properly,
it may lead to diseases that can kill humans. The supply of
water could also be affected if there were no rules. No one will
work to maintain the cleanliness of it for they may turn unto
doing things that may give money easier even though it is not
right at all. No one will cure us when we were ill and
help us in times of trouble. In the end, each of the people will
find their own ways to live and survive, it’ll be like a war zone.
This merely shows how important it is to have a system of law
in a society to regulate a good relationship with each other, even
for those with conflicting interest. This is the only procedure that
 could ensure that the human rights are respected. If we won’t
have laws, our society would not be able to function effectively.
Crimes will become an everyday occurrence that children will
grow up and will then find it normal, which is not desirable to
happen in our future generations, that is why law is very
important, it ensures the safety of our future generations

THE STATE AND LAW:

The relation between the state and law is very Close and
intimate. There are three theories with regard to the relationship
between the state and law.

1). The first theory is that state is superior to law and creator of
law. There was a reaction against this theory. It was contended
that law is anterior to the state and is not always made by the
state.

2). The second theory is that law is more important than the state
and the state is bound by it. Law is anterior to the state.

3). The third theory is that the law and the state is one and the
same thing. They merely indicate legal order.

The different theories about the relationship of law and State

have their own merits. The state bound by some fundamental
law is not an impossibility. It is possible that in future, law may
be considered more fundamental than the state.