Law is the system of rules that a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members. Oxford Reference offers more than 34,000 concise definitions and in-depth, specialist encyclopedic entries on this broad subject, from criminal and civil laws to property, taxation, labour, international, family, and employment law. The work is written by experts and is easy to understand.
The principal functions of law are establishing standards, maintaining order, resolving disputes, and protecting liberties and rights. However, the precise nature of law is a matter of debate. Law can be created by a group legislature, resulting in statutes; by the executive through decrees and regulations; or through precedent – an informal system of justice based on previous court decisions (common law). The laws of a country can also come from religious texts like the Vedas, Bible, or Koran.
A country’s laws cover a vast range of subjects. Air law includes the rules on flying, shipping, and other commercial activities; maritime law covers the oceans; intellectual property law protects the rights to creations like art and music; trust law sets out the rights that people have over money they put into investments; and tort law enables people to claim compensation from others who cause them harm. Typically, people who study law will learn through a combination of lectures, group discussion and presentations, class debates, and’mooting sessions’ – practical law training in a mock courtroom. Many law students will also study a foreign language, and may spend part of their law degree studying abroad.