What is law?
It is not easy to give a perfect definition of law. There are many difficulties in properly defining the law.
Firstly, in all the societies, there has been a law in one form or the other. There has been difference in law of Different societies.
The term “Law” includes different things in different societies and hence it is understood in different sense in different societies.
Any definition of law which fails to encompass all these senses or meanings cannot be said to be a good definition.
Secondly, different definitions of the same thing can be given if it is viewed from the different angles. A Definition unable to cover all possible angles would be an imperfect definition.
Thirdly law grows and develops with the society. In modern times, the development in the society has been tremendously fast. The law is required to cover all new fields. To keep pace with the fast advancing society, the scope of law always keeps changing. This adds to the constraints in defining law.
Morris has explained the difficulty in defining law by giving an example. He said that a horse means a genus of the Mammalian for a zoologist, it is a means of transportation for a traveller, it is a sport of kings for an average man and an article of food in certain nations. It depends on the angle one looks at it. The question is how the definition of the horse is to be arrived at. The definition will be different from the points of view of a zoologist, A traveller, an average man etc. In the same manner, law has been variously defined by various individuals from different points of view. It is therefore, there is no unanimity of opinion regarding the definition of law.
ARNOLD has very rightly said “obviously, Law can never be defined. with equal obviousness, it should be said that adherents of legal institution must never give up the struggle to define the law”.
despite this position, Various schools of law have attempted to define the law from the different angles. Some have defined it on the basis of its nature, whereas some have given attention to its source. Some jurist have defined the law in terms of its effect on society whereas other have concentrated on the purpose for which law is made. The definitions of law put forth by various tourist are given below.
JUSTINIAN : law is the king of all mortal and immoral affairs, which ought to be the chiefs, the ruler and the leader of the noble, and the base and thus the standard of what is just and unjust, the commander to animals naturally social of what they should do, the forbidder of what they should not do.
BLACKSTONE: law is its most general and comprehensive sense signifies a rule of action and is applied indiscriminately to all kinds of action whether animate or inanimate, rational or irrational. Thus we say the laws of gravitation or optics or mechanics as well as the laws of nature and nations.
KANT: Law is the sum total of the conditions under which the personal wishes of one man can be combined with the personal wishes of another man in accordance with the general law of freedom.
AUSTIN: law is the command of sovereign. It imposes a duty and is backed by Sanction. Command, duty and sanction are three elements of law.
JUSTICE HOLMES: Law is a statement of the circumstances in which The public works will be brought to bear upon the men through courts.
GREY: the law of the state or of any organised body of man is composed of the rules which the record that it is not judicial organs of the body laid down for determination of legal rights and duties Salma and the law is the body of principles recognised and applied by the state in administration of justice.
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