Law is a system of rules, regulations, and legal practices that governs the way people live. In a society such as the United States, law informs everything from buying a bus ticket to trading options on a stock exchange.

The term “law” can refer to any number of different fields, from tort law (which regulates injuries and damages) to criminal law (which gives the government the power to punish crime). It can also describe the professions that deal with advising people on how to act or represent them in court, or giving decisions and punishments.

Hohfeldian Rights

The Hohfeldian theory of rights holds that right-holders control the duties owed to them and, in some cases, the privileges or powers they have vested in them (Kamm 2002: 476-71). It identifies four main types of rights–claim-rights, immunities, privileges, and powers.

Claim-rights are the most familiar type of legal right. A claim-right is an entitlement to certain goods or services, usually those that belong to a specific person.

Immunities are similar to claim-rights in that they protect the right-holder’s interests from infringement.

Privileges and powers, on the other hand, are not primarily intended to secure the right-holder’s interests but to grant a measure of normative control over others.

Because rights enjoy a qualitative precedence over certain other reasons, they can be regarded as “preemptory.” In some circumstances, such as when conflicting with a duty, it may be necessary to revert to duty rather than to rights as the sole or primary reason for ph.