Roles and Functions of Law
Roles and Functions of Law – LAW/421
The law is a body of rules of conduct that everyone within a country must obey, prescribed and enforced by a controlling authority. In America the law creates obligations, duties, and rights that reflect the views of its society. The science and philosophy of law is known as jurisprudence. Jurisprudence is used to describe the different functions of law: natural law, positivists, and legal realism. Natural law is the principle or body of laws that is a system of moral values and is believed to be derived from nature, or the right reason and are ethical obligations to having a humane society. Those who follow natural law believe there is a higher power than the law. Positivists believe there is a specific set of laws that have been agreed upon that are strict and uniformly enforced. Positivists believe that there is no higher power than the law. Lastly, legal realism promotes fairness and takes into account social and economic realities when coming to legal conclusions (Melvin, S. P., 2011). There are many purposes for there being laws in any and all nations across the world. One, and the most obvious, is to provide a system of order that defines crimes and deals out punishments for violation of those crimes. Another purpose laws serve is to promote fairness. An example of this is antidiscrimination. These laws promote equality and justice throughout society; this especially holds true in the workplace and education environments. Third, the law is a system of resolving issues and disputes. It does this by providing a basis when it comes to deciding legal rights and interests. Lastly, when it comes to businesses specifically, the law promotes good faith dealings among merchants and consumers giving them a sense of reliability in business planning and commercial transactions (Melvin, S. P., 2011). References
Melvin, S.P. (2011). The Legal Environment of Business: A Managerial Approach: Theory to Practice. New York, NY:
The law is a body of rules of conduct that everyone within a country must obey, prescribed and enforced by a controlling authority. In America the law creates obligations, duties, and rights that reflect the views of its society. The science and philosophy of law is known as jurisprudence. Jurisprudence is used to describe the different functions of law: natural law, positivists, and legal realism. Natural law is the principle or body of laws that is a system of moral values and is believed to be derived from nature, or the right reason and are ethical obligations to having a humane society. Those who follow natural law believe there is a higher power than the law. Positivists believe there is a specific set of laws that have been agreed upon that are strict and uniformly enforced. Positivists believe that there is no higher power than the law. Lastly, legal realism promotes fairness and takes into account social and economic realities when coming to legal conclusions (Melvin, S. P., 2011). There are many purposes for there being laws in any and all nations across the world. One, and the most obvious, is to provide a system of order that defines crimes and deals out punishments for violation of those crimes. Another purpose laws serve is to promote fairness. An example of this is antidiscrimination. These laws promote equality and justice throughout society; this especially holds true in the workplace and education environments. Third, the law is a system of resolving issues and disputes. It does this by providing a basis when it comes to deciding legal rights and interests. Lastly, when it comes to businesses specifically, the law promotes good faith dealings among merchants and consumers giving them a sense of reliability in business planning and commercial transactions (Melvin, S. P., 2011). References
Melvin, S.P. (2011). The Legal Environment of Business: A Managerial Approach: Theory to Practice. New York, NY:
References: Melvin, S.P. (2011). The Legal Environment of Business: A Managerial Approach: Theory to Practice. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.