law, rules of conduct of any organized society, however simple or small, that are enforced by threat of punishment if they are violated. Modern law has a wide sweep and regulates many branches of conduct.

Development of Early Law

Law does not develop systematically until a state with a centralized police authority has appeared. For this development a written language is not required, but necessarily the earliest known legal codes are those of literate societies. Examples of early law systems are to be found in the code of Hammurabi Hammurabi (hämrä`bē), fl. 1792–1750 B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. (Babylonia), the Laws of Manu Manu (mŭ`n), semilegendary Hindu lawgiver.
..... Click the link for more information. (India), and the Mosaic code (Palestine). These codes show what would seem to be the universal tendency of the religious and ethical system of a society to produce a legal order to enforce its ethical and social mandates. In classical antiquity the first codes of law are those attributed to Solon Solon (sō`lən), c.639–c.559 B.C., Athenian statesman, lawgiver, and reformer.
..... Click the link for more information. and to Lycurgus.

Roman Law and Its Influence

The first law code in Roman history was the Law of the Twelve Tables Twelve Tables, early code of Roman law. Most modern authorities accept the traditional date of 450 B.C., but several place the work later. The tables were supposedly written in response to the plebeians' protest that the patrician judges were able to discriminate
..... Click the link for more information. , the prelude to the development of Roman law Roman law, the legal system of Rome from the supposed founding of the city in 753 B.C. to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 1453; it was later adopted as the basis of modern civil law .
..... Click the link for more information. , a highly elaborate system that has had immeasurable influence on the growth of Western law. It was summarized in the Corpus Juris Civilis Corpus Juris Civilis (kôr`pəs j
..... Click the link for more information. in the time of Justinian. Roman law developed the distinction between public law (in which the state is concerned directly, e.g., treason and taxation) and private law (concerned with disputes between persons, e.g., over contracts).

The breakup of the Roman Empire under the pressure of the Germanic invasions brought the disruption of the Roman legal administration. Temporarily the codes of Germanic laws Germanic laws, customary law codes of the Germans before their contact with the Romans. They are unknown to us except through casual references of ancient authors and inferences from the codes compiled after the tribes had invaded the Roman Empire.
..... Click the link for more information. eclipsed Roman law in Western Europe. In the simpler Germanic codes the main distinctive element was the use of composition composition, in ancient and medieval law, a sum of money paid by a guilty party as satisfaction to the family of the person who was injured or killed. Failure to make the payment might justify retaliation in kind against the offender or his family.
..... Click the link for more information. for crimes, but most of the Germanic codes showed at least some Roman influence.

Roman law, together with the Bible, was the basis of canon law canon law, in the Roman Catholic Church, the body of law based on the legislation of the councils (both ecumenical and local) and the popes, as well as the bishops (for diocesan matters).
..... Click the link for more information. , the legal system of the Roman Catholic Church, while Muslim law was derived from the Qur'an Qur'an or Koran (kōrăn`, –rän`) [Arab.,=reading, recitation], the sacred book of Islam.
..... Click the link for more information. and the traditional sayings of Muhammad, and later Hebrew law was based on the Talmud Talmud (tăl`məd) [Aramaic from Heb.
..... Click the link for more information. . Feudal law also showed the effects of Roman law, although in theory it was based not upon any concept of the state but on personal relations (see feudalism feudalism (fy
..... Click the link for more information. ).

The revival of trade in the commercial revolution, and in the Renaissance brought new developments in the law of the sea (see maritime law maritime law, system of law concerning navigation and overseas commerce. Because ships sail from nation to nation over seas no nation owns, nations need to seek agreement over customs related to shipping.
..... Click the link for more information. ). The study of Roman law itself was also revived, notably at the Univ. of Bologna. It became the basis of most Continental law, as exemplified in the French Code Napoléon, the archetype of codes that govern the jurisdiction of civil law civil law, as used in this article, a modern legal system based upon Roman law , as distinguished from common law . Civil law is based on written legal codes, a hallmark of the Roman legal system, in which disputes were settled by reference to a written legal code
..... Click the link for more information. .

Anglo-American Law

In England after the Norman Conquest the feudal law was ultimately replaced by the law of the royal courts, such as the king's bench. The royal courts developed common law common law, system of law that prevails in England and in countries colonized by England. The name is derived from the medieval theory that the law administered by the king's courts represented the common custom of the realm, as opposed to the custom of local
..... Click the link for more information. , i.e., judicial legislation as opposed to the law of the formally enacted statute statute, in law, a formal, written enactment by the authorized powers of a state. The term is usually not applied to a written constitution but is restricted to the enactments of a legislature.
..... Click the link for more information. . Common law adhered excessively to precedent, and equity equity, principles of justice originally developed by the English chancellor. In Anglo-American jurisprudence equitable principles and remedies are distinguished from the older system that the common law courts evolved.
..... Click the link for more information. , exercised by the king's chancery, appeared, with its reliance upon the dictates of conscience rather than upon precedent.

The two systems became bitter rivals. In the early 17th cent. Francis Bacon championed equity, while such eminent jurists as Edward Coke upheld the common law. In the 18th cent. English jurisprudence stressed natural law (the theory that law must incorporate the natural rights natural rights, political theory that maintains that an individual enters into society with certain basic rights and that no government can deny these rights. The modern idea of natural rights grew out of the ancient and medieval doctrines of natural law , i.e.
..... Click the link for more information. of humans), and the highly influential work of Sir William Blackstone Blackstone, Sir William, 1723–80, English jurist. At first unsuccessful in legal practice, he turned to scholarship and teaching. He became (1758) the first Vinerian professor of law at Oxford, where he inaugurated courses in English law.
..... Click the link for more information. exemplifies the theory.

The work of Blackstone was the most important influence in U.S. law (except for Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, where Continental civil law prevailed). Among those who helped to develop the American concept of law were James Kent Kent, James, 1763–1847, American jurist, b. near Brewster, N.Y. He was admitted to the bar in 1785 and began practice in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Active in the Federalist party, he served several terms in the New York legislature.
..... Click the link for more information. and Joseph Story Story, Joseph, 1779–1845, American jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1811–45), b. Marblehead, Mass. Admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1801, he practiced law in Salem and was several times elected to the Massachusetts legislature.
..... Click the link for more information. ; in constitutional law the most important figure was John Marshall Marshall, John, 1755–1835, American jurist, 4th Chief Justice of the United States (1801–35), b. Virginia.

Early Life

The eldest of 15 children, John Marshall was born in a log cabin on the Virginia frontier (today in Fauquier co., Va.
..... Click the link for more information. . In the United States the distinctive feature is the coexistence of federal and state law, for the U.S. Constitution limits the sphere in which federal law is supreme.

Bibliography

See H. L. A. Hart, The Concept of Law (1961); R. A. Wormser, The Story of the Law and the Men Who Made It (rev. ed. 1962); R. David, Major Legal Systems in the World Today (tr. 1968).

law

Discipline and profession concerned with the customs, practices, and rules of conduct that are recognized as binding by the community. Enforcement of the body of rules is through a controlling authority, such as a group of elders, a regent, a court, or a judiciary. Comparative law is the study of the differences, similarities, and interrelationships of different systems of law. Important areas in the study and practice of law include administrative law, antitrust law, business law, constitutional law, criminal law, environmental law, family law, health law, immigration law, intellectual property law, international law, labour law, maritime law, procedural law, property law, public interest law, tax law, trusts and estates, and torts. See also Anglo-Saxon law; canon law; civil law; common law; equity; Germanic law; Indian law; Islamic law (Shari'ah); Israeli law; Japanese law; jurisprudence; military law; Roman law; Scottish law; Soviet law.

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