Law is a system of rules created by a place or authority and meant to form a framework to ensure a society is safe and peaceful. It is enforced by a controlling authority, and violations may result in penalties. The term can also refer to a specific area of the legal field, such as tort law or employment law. It can also describe professions that deal with advising people about the law, or representing them in court, like lawyers, jurists and judges.
Law shapes politics, economics and history in a variety of ways, and it also serves as a mediator between people. It can be influenced by a constitution, either written or tacit, which encodes certain core human and procedural rights. It can also be shaped by culture, family and social habits, and religion.
Various countries have different types of laws. For example, some have a common law system, where the laws are compiled from the decisions made by judges at trial. Other places, such as Japan, have a civil law system where the laws are written in code.
There are many areas of the law, such as contract law, which regulates agreements to exchange goods or services, and property law that defines people’s rights and duties toward tangible property like homes and cars, or intangible property such as bank accounts and shares. Other examples include administrative law, which deals with the administration of government, and regulatory law, which sets standards for private companies doing things that were once controlled by the state, such as water, energy or telecommunications.