Modern relations in society are unthinkable without the establishment of certain norms of interaction, which sometimes take very complex forms. Therefore, the question naturally arises of what is law and how much is it necessary?
Many views on a single
The classic wording, obliged to clarify what law is, reads: "This is a community of norms recognized by society and the state, designed to regulate relations in them." The definition is quite vague and does not incorporate all aspects of such a complex phenomenon. Therefore, it needs to be adjusted.
Throughout the existence of human civilization, people have tried to establish the framework of permissible behavior. At first, these were customs, i.e. rules resulting from repeated application. Then in their place came the decisions of the leaders, who, with the advent of the state, were transformed into laws. Based on this logical sequence, we can conclude that law is a combination of customs, decisions and laws. And again, a controversial definition, since the interstate aspect of relations, such as military or commercial, is excluded. And that means that whole “layers” of regulators, such as, for example, international trade law, are ignored. In this case, it is better to turn to theories that explain the essence of law.
Theories of law - 5 scientific views on the problem
Jurists have not yet developed a consensus on what constitutes law. For this period of time in science, there are 5 basic theories that are successfully applied in the modern world.
The psychological theory of law . Represents this phenomenon from the point of view of division into positive and intuitive law. So, positive law is all the norms of behavior emanating from the state and its structures. Intuition is a reaction, a certain effective relation of an individual to established rules. Accordingly, law acts here as a certain cultural regulator of relations.
Natural law theory . It is based on the fact that law should be a combination of such norms that are a reflection of the just principles of human nature. This theory separated law and law, a positive and natural principle in law, and also laid down the principle of morality in law.
Normative theory has determined that law is just the rules established by the state and its structures.
The positivist theory believes that the answer to the question of what law is, can be formulated as follows: law is the imperious will of the state. In contrast to the previous theory, in which the norms of the law include natural rights, in this individual acts as a derived subject from the state.
Socialist theory says that law in its essence is only a material consolidation of emerging social relations, regardless of the national or geographical factor. And therefore, all participants and their subjective rights and obligations should be included in the phenomenon under consideration.
As you can see, all five theories contain individual elements that reflect the real situation in the field of jurisprudence. However, none of them gives an exact answer to the question asked. And therefore it seems correct to combine them.
So what is right? This is a mechanism based on the natural rights of a person, the regulation of his relationship with other people and the state through fixed binding norms.