Ex.1.2. Read the following text, define its main idea

What is Law?

The term “law” is used in many senses: we may speak of the laws of physics, mathematics, science, nature, or the laws of football, logic or health. Some laws are descriptive: they simply describe how people, or even natural phenomena, usually behave. An example of descriptive law is rather consistent law of gravity, another example is the less consistent laws of economics.

Other laws are prescriptive – they prescribe how people should or must behave. An example of prescriptive law is traffic regulations. When we speak of the law of a state we use the term “law” in a special and strict sense, and in that sense law may be defined as “a rule of human conduct, imposed upon and enforced among, the members of a given state”.

In any society, laws have several characteristics. First, laws symbolize norms, values, traditions. Second, laws must be codified in some way, usually through writing. Third, there must exist a method of enforcement: this can include police, social pressure, “magic”, or some other force that enable society to punish or reward its members. And finally, there must be something specific to be enforced: laws are not general, but specific. The main characteristic of law is that it is enforced, and such enforcement is usually carried out by the State. If the rules or laws are broken, compulsion is used to enforce obedience. Thus if A steals a watch from B, A may be prosecuted before the court. The court may thenorder the restitution of the watch to its rightful owner, B. If A refuses to obey, he or she may be punished, that means a penalty will be imposed on A.

          This is why we need law: if we all behaved according to our personal standards of behaviour and morality, anarchy would rule the world. We may say, then, that two ideas underlie the concept of law: 1) order, in the sense of method or system; and 2) compulsion – i.e. the enforcement of obedience to the rules or laws laid down.