What is the law?
Posted by: Thomas Neville
February 04, 2009
Topic: What is the law?
It's an interesting question, and philosophers and writers have grappled with it for centuries. Some people believe that the law flows from God; others believe that it is imposed by the strong upon the weak. Still others believe that the law is part of a social contract that is the necessary prerequisite for civilization to exist.
All of those are good scholarly answers, but they aren't very practical. From a practical point of view, the law is the rules by which our civilization operates. Understanding the law lets you know your rights and your obligations. We do not, however, have a convenient quick reference guide for these rules. Laws can be found in many places. Some laws come from our Constitution, others from statutes or municipal regulations, still others can be found in the opinions of judges deciding cases through history. Finally, some laws are created by regulatory agencies.
In America, we continued to follow the English common law system after the Revolutionary War. Common law includes judge-made rules intended to respond to a specific legal dispute. As judges decided these disputes, they tried to rely on earlier decisions by other judges to help them reach just and consistent results. The treatment of prior decisions as binding law is what forms the basis of the common law system.
The common law is not the only law that governs our conduct. Common law can be modified by statute or regulation and is obviously subject to the Constitution. It is, however, the backbone of our legal system. Over the next several months, we will use this space provide a basic introduction to various areas of the common law. Our reason for doing so is to help teach you about your rights and obligations to help you understand when you should call a lawyer for assistance.
We will also use this space to post about other legal topics of interest and to introduce you to the attorneys at Ogborn, Summerlin & Ogborn.
