The law defines rules that a group of people agrees to follow and enforces when they are broken. It governs human behaviour in many ways and serves four main purposes: establishing standards, maintaining order, resolving disputes and protecting rights and liberties. It is an important aspect of a stable and secure society and there are many different types of laws.
Law is not easy to define, since every legal system has its own set of rules and people have a variety of opinions about what the law should be. However, most people would agree that the law is a system of rules made by the government and that it is something that citizens must obey. The law is often described as a framework for society, with certain core human and procedural rights enshrined in it. People have to abide by the law or face punishment, which may include fines, prison time or exclusion from society.
Some of the most significant areas of law are criminal, administrative and commercial. Criminal law deals with activities that are against the general good and punishable by a sanction, such as theft or murder. Civil and commercial law, on the other hand, deal with activities that are not against the public good but still require adherence to a standard of conduct. These activities may be regulated by the law, for example, air or road safety regulations or labour laws.
There is also international law, which deals with the relationships between states and the interaction of state and non-state actors, including corporations. There is also constitutional law, which concerns the constitutions of countries and the relationship between the executive, legislature and judiciary. Constitutional law is a key part of a democracy, and is one of the most important areas of state sovereignty.
Most countries have both civil and criminal law. In some fields, such as aviation or railroads, the federal government has developed a comprehensive system of law that preempts all state law. In other areas, such as family law or antitrust, a small number of federal statutes coexist with state law. The vast majority of state law, however, is based on common law and varies greatly from state to state.
Religious law is based on religious precepts and, in some cases, is elaborated by further human elaboration through interpretation, Qiyas (reasoning by analogy), Ijma (consensus) and precedent. The Jewish Halakha and Islamic Sharia are examples of this.
There is also environmental, banking and financial regulation and other laws that affect the way businesses are run. For example, the law requires that companies provide information on how their products and services impact the environment. This type of law helps to protect the health of the population and the planet. Other forms of regulatory law involve ensuring that services such as water, electricity and gas are supplied at a reasonable cost and with sufficient quality. These services are usually provided by private companies, which have to comply with a range of regulatory bodies to operate in most OECD countries.