Law

From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.

Law is a system of rules that people are supposed to follow in a society or a country. Those who break these rules may receive punishment, such as paying a fine or other penalty. Laws are often written by leaders, to set the limits on how people work and do business with each other. Today in most countries, laws are voted on by groups of people who are elected by the people to do this in a parliament.

Culture is usually a major source of the principles behind many laws, as people tend to trust the ideas based on family and social habits. In many countries throughout history, religion has also been also a main source of law.

A legal code is a written code of laws that are enforced. This may deal with things like police, courts, or punishments.

A lawyer or jurist or attorney is a professional who studies and argues the rules of law. In the United States, there are two kinds of attorneys - "transactional" attorneys who write contracts and "litigators" who go to court.

When leaders enforce the legal code honestly, even on themselves and their friends, this is called rule of law. Some people do not like the idea of the rule of law, because they think it's more about keeping the power in the hands of the people who already have it, rather than keeping everybody safe.

[edit] Relevant literature

• Sandro Nielsen: The Bilingual LSP Dictionary. Principles and Practice for Legal Language. Benjamins 1994.