Functions and Roles of Law essays

Functions and Roles of Law essays Ideally, a legal system should be a direct reflection of the society at any given time. What does one consider to be the main functions of the law in his/her society? To answer this question, one has to define precisely what law really is. The definition I like the most is very simple. Law is a set of rules to live by. There are descriptions of many different social functions of the law that can be found in various law books: promoting social freedom, keeping the peace and protecting the environment, promoting economic growth and many others. However, I think that the two main functions of the law are to maintain social cohesion and to keep up with social progress. Social cohesion is the bonding of people into a group extensive shared benefits and consequent actions. The law functions to maintain and establish social cohesion by reinforcing values; establishing patterns of acceptable conduct; providing dispute settling mechanisms and processes; providing law-making and law reform bodies and processes (Green, 1994). Social cohesion preserves the principle value of a given society by: implementing laws that outline standards of acceptable conduct; by providing institutions and processes that cater for the making of laws and resolution of disputes in a peaceful fashion; and by providing agencies that promote law reforms and changes. In todays society, the current legal system permits people great freedom, and regulates this freedom by setting limits. If these limits are breached, it means that one has just broken the law. Seems very easy. Unfortunately, it is not that cut and dry in a real world. The limits that define what is against the law and what is not are being tested in courts every day. There are many loopholes and ways around these precious limits. The good news is that people become used to acting within limits behaving in acceptable patterns. Todays legal system and law provide courts, tribunals,...