1. Law IGCSE Global Perspectives

2. Why do peoples make laws? Do we need laws?

3. “The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual” Aristotle, Politics 3.16, 350 BC

4. Law The complete body of statutes, rules, enforced customs and norms, and court decisions governing the relations of individuals and corporate entities to one another and to the state. The subset of such statutes and other rules and materials dealing with a particular subject matter. The system by which such statutes and rules are administered. The profession of interpreting such statutes and rules. A bill that becomes effective after enactment by the legislature and signature (or failure to veto) by the executive. Source: Webster’s New World Law Dictionary, 2006, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

5. Law The enforceable body of rules that govern any society. One of the rules making up the body of law, such as and Act of Parliament. Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Law, 5 th edition, 2003, Oxford University Press

6. Law is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a primary social mediator of relations between people.

7. Natural Law Natural law or the law of nature (Latin: Lex Naturalis) is a theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by nature and that therefore has validity everywhere. The permanent underlying basis of all law. The philosophers of ancient Greece, where the idea of natural law originated, considered that there was a kind of perfect justice given to man by nature and that man's laws should conform to this as closely as possible. Theories of natural law have been an important part of jurisprudence throughout legal history. Natural law is distinguished from positive law, which is the body of law imposed by the state. Natural law is both anterior and superior to positive law.

8. Positive Law In the strictest sense, it is law made by human beings, that is, "Law actually and specifically enacted or adopted by proper authority for the government of an organized jural society.“ (Black's Law Dictionary, 5th Edition, 1979, West Publishing Co.) The body of laws that have been enacted in a particular community and that are upheld by the courts of that community, as distinct from natural law.