Law is the set of rules enacted by a society to regulate its members’ behavior and provide protection from exploitation and harm. It serves many purposes, but four are especially important: establishing standards, maintaining order, resolving disputes, and protecting liberties and rights. Law has a wide range of applications and is broadly categorized into many branches, including contract law; criminal law; administrative law; tort law; property law; and constitutional law. For a discussion of the philosophical issues involved in legal systems, see law, philosophy of.
In general, a rule is considered law only if it has been judicially established and confirmed by subsequent decisions, or if it is based on an obvious principle of logic and reason. The rule must be uniform in its application. Blackstone believed that judges were “the depositories of the law” and living oracles, and that a judge’s determination in a case should be given the highest consideration. Nevertheless, he said that if a former decision was clearly contrary to “rational law” or divine law it should not be followed by a judge in a subsequent case.
A formal accusation that a person committed a crime. A prosecutor presents such an accusation in a court of justice. The prosecutor is the agent of the government who represents the interests of the state or people against a defendant. A defense attorney may represent the interests of a defendant on his or her behalf in a criminal case.