What is Law? Nature, Scope, Kinds, Function and Purpose

Law is a specific set of rules made by the sovereign authority (State), for the welfare of people within its territory, to do and to abstain from doing certain acts.

Now let’s think something whenever someone hears the term ‘Law’ what comes to their mind? Stop and think first before proceeding further. Someone will think we should wear seatbelts while driving, some will think of tax evasion and somebody will think of punishment for any crime. But Law is much more than what people think of it.

Definition of Law:

Every Jurist (A person who is an expert in law) has defined the term ‘Law‘ differently considering their own point of view. In the Hindu Jurisprudence, it has been called the Dharma. Islamic scholars called it Hukum, Romans (Rome) called it Jus, Germans (Germany) called it Richt and the French (France) called it Droit. There are some definitions of law given by various Jurists belonging to different Schools of thought.

Salmond defined Law ” as the body of principles reorganised and applied by the State for the administration of justice.

According to Blackstone, “Law in its most general comprehensive sense signifies a rule of action and is applied indiscriminately to all kinds of actions, whether animate or inanimate, rational or irrational.“

Hobbes defined Law as “the commands of determinate superior that has coercive powers.”

Ulpain defined Law as “the art of science of what is equitable and good.”

John Austin has said that “Law is the Command of Sovereign backed by sanctions.”

According to H.L.A. Hart “Law is the combination of primary rules of obligations and secondary rules of recognition.”

Definition of Law as per the Constitution of India-

Article 13 (3)(a) – “law” includes any Ordinance, order, bye-law, rule, regulation, notification, custom or usage having in the territory of India the force of law.

The term Law under Article 13(3)(a) of the Constitution of India has been given a very wide scope so as to include any ordinance, order, bye-law, rule, regulation, notification, custom or usage having in the territory of India the force of law. The term Law has been given this wide scope under Article 13(3)(a) in order to protect the fundamental rights of the citizens of India.

The Parliament, while making any Act cannot be deemed to have taken into consideration an earlier law found to be in contravention of Article 13 [Rakesh Vij v. Raminder Pal Singh Sethi, (2005) 8 SCC 504 : AIR 2005 SC 3593].

Nature and Scope of Law-

The law may be described as a tool that lays down the norms and standards for human behaviour enforceable through the sovereign i.e. State. Some jurists said that Judges make law and there are others also who opposed the same. The law-making power has been entrusted to the legislators and the Judges are entrusted with the power to check its validity. By validity, it is meant whether it is violative of the Fundamental Rights of its citizens or not. The peculiar feature of the law is its Normative character.

There have also been times when the law was to have an eye for an eye but civilized societies disregarded the same. With the passage of time, this practice was almost abolished. None of the democracies supports this kind of thought. In the recent past, it has been seen that capital punishment should also be avoided, instead a person should be sentenced to life imprisonment. Various democratic countries also abolished the concept of capital punishment from their penal laws.

The Legislature enacts laws on different subjects for achieving the ends of social justice and maintaining public order. The main function of law is to regulate the conduct of people in the society and for this end, the State either commands its citizens to do certain acts or abstains from doing certain acts. Where the State is to deal with crimes in society likewise it has also to deal with White-Collar crimes as well as civil wrongs.

Kinds:

There are various kinds of laws, some of them are-

1. Criminal Law
2. Civil Law
3. Personal Law
4. Special Law
5. Family Law
6. Administrative Law
7. Taxation Law
8. Law of Intellectual Property
9. Insurance Law
10. Local Law
11. Foreign Law
12. Martial Law
13. Commercial Law
14. International Law

Function and Purpose of Law-

Ever since the inception of Human Civilization, mankind has always had some kind of rules that they used to govern themself in society. The laws set out the parameter in which we should live if we want to be part of that society. Law set up rules and regulations for society so that we can have fundamental freedoms, gives Justice to those who were victims, and it also protects us from our own Government.

Different Jurists have expressed different views regarding the function and purpose of Law as per their thought and experience. Roscoe Pound the great exponent of the Sociological School of Jurisprudence, in his book Social Control Through Law (1968) described the function of Law and that is Social Engineering. He was of the opinion that this perception has been accepted by all the civilized countries of the world including India.

In general, it would not be to say that the core function and purpose of the law is to maintain the social order, maintain harmony within its territory. If there is no peace in any society and the sovereign is silent on that then the whole conception of law will serve no purpose. Law is nothing but it is as an instrument to discipline one’s own mind and nothing else.

Reference– 1. Studies in Jurisprudence and Legal Theory by Dr. N. V. Paranjape,

2. Indian Constitutional Law by M.P.Jain,