LAW

Law has been defined as a "system of rules", as an "interpretive concept" to achieve justice, as an "authority" to mediate people's interests, and even as "the command of a sovereign, backed by the threat of a sanction". The numerous ways law might be thought of reflects the numerous ways law comes into everyone's lives. Contract law governs everything from buying a bus ticket, to obligations in the workplace. When buying or renting a house, property law defines people's rights and duties towards the bank, or landlord. When earning pensions, trust law protects savings. Tort law allows claims for compensation when someone or their property is harmed. But if the harm is criminalised, and the act is intentional, then criminal law ensures that the perpetrator is removed from society. Society itself is built upon law. Constitutional law provides a framework for making new laws, protecting people's human rights and electing political representatives. Administrative law allows ordinary citizens to challenge the way government bodies exercise their power. Between different societies, international law builds bridges, so that people everywhere can lead better lives. "The rule of law," wrote the philosopher Aristotle in 350BC, "is better than the rule of any individual."

The study of law raises important questions about equality, fairness and justice. This is not always simple. "In its majestic equality," wrote the author Anatole France in 1894, "the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread."