Law is the system of rules a society or government develops in order to deal with issues like crime and business agreements. It can also refer to a specific branch of the law, such as criminal or business law. This article is an introduction to law and some of the most important aspects that make it up.

Law is complex. It includes a wide variety of practices, ideas and rules that have evolved through the centuries and have been shaped by a diverse range of social settings and disputes. It encompasses elements that are ancient, such as coroners’ courts with an 800-year history, and features that are modern, such as electronic court records and judges using laptop computers to decide cases.

The law can be state-enforced through a group legislature, producing statutes; by the executive through decrees and regulations; or, in common law systems, by judges through precedent, known as stare decisis. Private individuals can also create legally binding contracts, which are enforceable in court. There are various ways of interpreting and applying the law, including legal syllogism, which holds sway in civil law countries, analogy, which is a feature of common law countries, and different argumentative theories, such as teleological interpretation and golden rule.

There are a number of different laws, both at the local and national levels, and they are often in conflict with each other. The rules at the national level often preempt those at the local level, and there are a few areas where laws at both levels coexist, such as antitrust law and international law. There are also a few major branches of law, such as contract law, family law and employment law, where the law at the federal level preempts the law at the local level.

In a democracy, the law is generally seen as a set of principles that must be upheld by all members of a society. This idea is supported by constitutional principles, such as the separation of powers, which ensures that one individual is not able to wield absolute power over other citizens. It is also reflected in the way that society deals with issues such as crime, through laws that deal with the most severe punishments for offences and in the fact that people often obey laws without even thinking about them, for example, driving on the right side of the road or paying taxes.

As the law relates to human rights and civil liberties, see articles on human rights and freedom of expression. The law can also refer to a specific area of law, such as property law or immigration law, and these articles discuss the particular types of laws that apply in those fields. In addition, the articles on these subjects discuss the reasons for laws to change and how they are interpreted. These articles usually contain more technical language than is used in other introductory articles on the law and may take a position on controversial legislative changes.