Introduction to The study of Law
The Theory of Law
Introduction
• The law is a set of rules that governs the social conduct of
individuals.
• The aim of these rules is to regulate social life in a given society,
safeguard the lives and properties of persons, enable each
person to enjoy his rights and liabilities, and secure safety and
justice among the people.
• The law may succeed, or fail, to maintain justice but it is always
binding upon all persons until it is either amended or repealed.
The meaning of the word Law
• The word "law" has different meanings.
In its broad sense, it means a rule to which actions must
or should conform. In its strict sense, law means the
rules of conduct imposed by a state upon its citizens and
foreigners enacted by its legislative authority and
enforced by the courts of law .
• The word "Law" in the civil law countries means an "act"
or "statute", and this is the written law, it means also
"customary rule" (Orf in Arabic) which is an unwritten
law agreed upon by a uniform adherence of the people
to a certain conduct not provided for in any written law.
What characterizes the law?
• All social rules do not enjoy a coercive sanction and a citizen
may be reluctant to abide by them but the laws of the State
differ from all other rules to which a citizen may abide by.
• Firstly: the citizen has no choice but to obey them. Secondly:
there is a formal and usually somewhat elaborate procedure
for enacting the laws.
Thirdly: there is a special procedure for reaching decisions
by way of courts, conducted by officials known as judges.
Fourthly: there is regular machinery, which exists for
enforcement of the laws, by the use of force if necessary. In
this, the police, aided by an organized system of prisons,
plays an essential role. All of these four elements are
included in the legal system of a state.
What is meant by a Legal System?
• The law of a state is often described as the
"legal system". This implies a body of rules,
which are coherent and consistent.
• A citizen should thus be able to ascertain his
legal position with a fair measure of certainty
and apprehension of legal rules. The decision
of the courts of law should be reasonably
predictable.
Chapter (1)
Legal Rules: Their characteristics
The legal rule can be defined as "a social rule of
conduct of general and abstract application and having
a sort of sanction imposed upon violators thereof".
From this definition we can extract the characteristics
of the legal rule:
• It is a social rule of conduct.
• It has a general and abstract scope of application.
• It has different kinds of sanctions to ensure the respect
thereof, some are material and others emanate from
the adverse reaction of the society against wrong-
doers.
I- A Social Rule of Conduct
• The legal rule is a rule that governs the social
conduct of persons in a given society.
For example, a rule of the traffic law which
instructs to drive the car on the right side of the
road is a legal rule; the rule which stipulates
that the maximum conventional interest rate
should not exceed 7% per annum (unless
otherwise provided by law) is a legal rule.
Such rules of conduct intend human beings
relationships and conduct towards each other,
and in principle they disregard relationships
with invisible creatures such as animals. They
do not verify any principles in the relationship
of humans and Allah, except for the principle
of mutual respect among followers of different
religions.
The legal rule, is different from other social
rules
1-Our social life knows several rules of compliment
and courtesy among individuals and families. For
instance, in marriage ceremonies, the relatives and
friends present some gifts and/or donations to the
spouses. This is a rule of conduct observed by
people; but it is not a legal rule, because the legal
rule is binding and has sanction to ensure its
effectiveness. If no gift is awarded, the sanction does
not come from the law, but just rendering the family
or friend unhappy with such conduct.
2-In every society there are rules of morality laying
down standards of conduct, which are approved
as being morally right. These rules are often
referred to as the "moral code". A violation of
these rules will therefore incur the strong
disapprobation of the society in general
For example, severance of all kinds of contact
with one of your relatives is morally disapproved
but still lawful.
3-People are taught in their childhood some rules of
ethics such as respecting older persons, assisting the
poor, taking some care towards a weak person,
abstaining from telling lies or poking one's nose in
other people's affairs…etc. Such rules are not legal
rules, because they are not binding and the sanction
in case of infringement is not material. The sanction is
just a feeling of disapproval or other persons towards
the rule-breaking person but no legal issues are raised.
Some portions of the moral code coincide more
or less precisely with parts of the legal code
In all societies killing and stealing are regarded as morally
reprehensible, and it is equally certain that all societies have
legal prohibitions against killing or stealing. In such spheres,
therefore, the legal and the moral codes reinforce one another.
however, many instances where a given moral code disapproves
a certain conduct, though the law does not sanction the
conduct in question. For instance, there are various types of
conduct towards girls, which may be treated as morally wrong
but which the law refrains from punishing until such conduct
attains a certain degree of gravity, such as harassment and
rape.
4-In our society, persons adhere to a certain
religion, normally either Islam or Christianity.
Both religions contain rules to govern the
relation of everybody towards God. This aspect is
not dealt with in positive law, being outside the
social relationships on one hand, and a personal
concern of everybody on the other hand
Religious rules have their sanction in the other
world in heavens; but legal rules have a material
sanction imposed in our actual life.
