Law is a set of rules geared to control human behavior and keep societal order. Its definitions and proposals vary widely, and they reflect both judicial and societal views of how a society should be organized. Laws also vary from one jurisdiction to another, as different cultures have developed different legal systems. The study of law offers insights into how these laws have adjusted over time, and how they differ from one civilization to the next.
Law can be seen as the set of rules that a government makes, and it can also refer to any strong rule that someone must follow. Hence, something like a parent’s house rules could be described as a law that must be obeyed, while a person’s instinctive or spontaneous actions can also be called laws, such as the law of self-preservation.
Other definitions of law focus on its relationship to morality. Utilitarian philosophers like John Austin have suggested that law is a collection of commands, backed by the threat of sanctions from a superior power to which people must conform. In contrast, natural lawyers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, have argued that laws are based on innate, moral, unchanging principles of nature.
More recently, a number of scholars have promoted the idea of the Rule of Law. This concept includes the idea that laws should be clear, publicly disclosed, stable, and applied evenly. It also implies adherence to international human rights norms and standards, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, and legal certainty. It also prohibits official arbitrariness.