What is Law?

 

What do you mean by the term ‘Law’? or What is ‘Law’?

We are passing through many sets of rules in our day-to-day life. The rules are possessed in our family that is made by our parents. The rules established in schools that aim to improve discipline among the students, and the rules and customs in our society that are acting as guiding forces for the public. The set of rules that are settled by the governments to recognize the methods of performance of marriages, divorce processes, custody of children, governance of businesses, environmental and political life of the country. Can these all types of set of rules be considered as ‘Law’?

This question is not far from the understanding that these all sets cannot be considered as Law, but there should be some distinctions between the terms Rules and Law. The rules are common directions for the members of a certain group. This group can be understood as a family, club, small societies, teams, etc. those can act by some general directions. Law has some different components then Rules.

The first component is to see that who is making the Law? This question so important to paves a path to the creation of Law. The law-making authority is all superior and sovereign then everyone else. The superior and sovereign authority means the authority that is constituted by following the appropriate procedure by the common consent of the people for whom the law is being made. In this whole understanding of the component, the superiority and the sovereignty of the authority are far important than the mere constitution of authority by common consent.

The political structure is so important in determining the position of the authority. The countries that have a democratic political structure, the national parliament may be considered as a centralized political structure or lawmaking authority in such countries. The other systems than democracy they have their structure of lawmaking and governance.

But, whatever rule or direction they issue to be followed by the public or their citizens may only be called the law when they are sovereign and superior in respect to their citizens and international compartment of countries. No other country or organization should have any restrain and determination on its position in legal and political consensus.

The second component is called the sanction. A sanction is a punishment given when someone does not obey the rule. A rule may be called a law when it has some sanction upon the followers if they do what is not expected from them to do. This sanction derives its power from the principle that the law should prescribe what the behavior of the members of the society ought to be, and it also forbids what it ought not to be. A law should try to establish norms in society to regulate human behavior.

The punishment described by law may be of different forms. It may be executed or hanging to death, imprisonment, payment of fines, or payment of compensation, etc. State apparatus entitled to coerce individuals to perform acts according to rules of law may be police, courts, jail authorities, civil administration staff, etc.

The third component is the enforcement authority. Law itself is not capable to be enforced as such. It should have the backing of the authority of the State apparatus. Authority maintains the rule of law and has the power to explain and execute what law is to be intended. Authority always has to be attached to the rule to make it a law. These authorities acting under the powers conferred on them by law.

There should be some distinction between the law and the rules of morality. Parents may set very high rules of morality to be observed by the children. But those rules of morality may not necessarily be those of law. Morality confers a greater burden than the benefits. Law always tries to balance between the restrictions on the individual and gains to her or the society. It will not put a greater burden than the resultant benefits. That is why in some countries, suicide or homosexuality, or mercy-killing is no longer an offense. Further, an organized and regularized machinery of the State is present to enforce the rule of law, but morals are not supported by such machinery.