What is law? Though we use the word "law" very often in our daily life, we use it in so
many ways that there is no simple answer to this question.
The definition of law depends on how we look at its purposes or functions.
A basic purpose of law in our society is to maintain order and to resolve disputes. For
this purpose we make laws to define our rights and duties and prescribe what we should and
should not do. However, law is not simply a set of rules. It is also the means to impose
responsibility and to enforce social justice. The rules of law must be followed, and
breaking any of them will result in a punishment.
Law has also been defined as a command from a superior to an inferior. The tax law fits in
well with this concept of law.
Law is also a method of social control. The law brings about changes in our society and
society brings about changes in the law. In this sense law is both an instrument of change
and a result of change.
Laws can be classified in many ways too. They are sometimes referred to as either
substantive or procedural. The rules of law that are used to resolve disputes are known as
substantive law. The legal procedures that determine how a lawsuit is begun, how the trial
is conducted, how appeals are taken, and how a judgment is enforced are called procedural
law. Substantive law defines rights, and procedural law establishes the procedures by
which rights are protected and enforced. For example, A and B have entered into an
agreement, and A claims that B has breached the agreement. The rules that provide for
bringing B into court and for the conduct of the trial are rather mechanical, and they
constitute procedural law. Whether the agreement is enforceable and whether A is entitled
to damages are matters of substance and will be determined on the basis of the substantive
law of contracts.
Law is also frequently classified into areas of public and private law. Public law deals
with the relationship between the state and individuals (private citizens, companies,
etc.) and affects the public generally. It can be further divided into constitutional law,
administrative law and criminal law. Private law is the part of law that defines the
rights and duties between private individuals. It covers the subjects of contracts, torts
and property, each of which can be subdivided into several bodies of law. The law of torts
is the primary source of litigation in America. It deals with wrongful acts against a
person or his property and is based on the theory that in a civilized society, people who
injure others or their property must compensate them for their loss.
Classification of law according to subject matter can often be difficult because the law
is indeed a seamless web, and overlapping is inevitable if we divide it according to a
clear-cut definition. Assume that a person is injured by a product he has purchased. He
may sue on the sales contract. But the law of sales, even though a part of the law of
contracts, contains several aspects that could best be labeled a branch of the law of
torts. Therefore, it is apparent that even the general classification of contract and tort
is not accurate in describing the subject matter of various bodies of law.
The phrase "sources of law" is used to describe methods and procedures by which law is
created and developed, or the origin from which particular laws derive their authority or
coercive force. American law is derived from four basic sources: constitutions,
legislation, judicial decisions (case law), and administrative rules and regulations.
Judicial decisions as part of law is a tradition in American law. This concept of decided
cases as a source of law is often referred to as the common law system, which must be
contrasted with the civil law system developed in continental Europe. The civil law
countries have codified their law so that the main source of law in those countries is to
be found in the statutes rather than in the cases. Under the common law system, however,
statutes as well as cases are sources of law. This means that when a judge decides a case,
not only does this resolve the dispute between the litigating parties, but it also further
decides all similar cases that might arise in the future.