Law

by John Bandler

Law is a system of rules from our government that establish rules of conduct and processes for resolving conflicts. The conflicts arise when people break those rules. More precisely, the conflicts arise when one person or group alleges that another broke the rules for conduct.

Law is for everyone, and this short article to introduces the concept of law, with links to more articles at bottom.

Remember there is no magic universal answer to those questions, and if you asked ten lawyers what law means to them, you will get ten different answers. And nothing says only lawyers can know the magic secrets of law. In fact, everyone needs to know something about law.

YouTube video cover slide, What is Law, by John Bandler

That's why I teach it, built resources here, a Udemy course on it, and some YouTube videos on it.

Laws are rules that come from government

Rules infographic - laws outlined

I think of laws as rules that come from the government.

In another article, I talk about "rules", and how rules come from many different places including:

  • Parents and family
  • Ourselves
  • Society (including religion)
  • Organizations we work for
  • Government.

For me, it is the government rules that are considered laws.

Government rules include constitutions, duly enacted laws, regulations, and court decisions.

Some may say that people have certain "inalienable rights", or "God-given rights", or other assertions that call to a higher legal authority. In my opinion, that gets into vague and subjective areas that are impossible to verify or apply any legal standards to. As we will see, it is hard enough interpreting the law of the U.S. Constitution (and the intent of the people who wrote that document) even though that has been fixed in writing for hundreds of years. It is infinitely harder to interpret the wishes of any supreme being who has not yet directly written their own words.

Laws include rules for conduct and rules to resolve conflict

Laws provide rules on what to do, or not do. These might be criminal laws or civil laws and regulations. These are areas of substantive laws.

Laws also provide rules on how to resolve a conflict. For example, if the government alleges that a defendant violated a criminal law, there is a process and system for adjudicating that allegation. If one party alleges a civil wrong was committed by another, there is a civil process and system to allege and resolve that dispute. These are areas of procedural law.

Sources of laws in the United StatesLaws infographic 2023-3 simple

Laws come from many different government entities. We can show that in this simple diagram.

First, we can categorize them by federal (from the U.S. government) and state (from the fifty states, and don't forget about the District of Columbia and territories).

Next, they could come from constitutions, notably the U.S. Constitution and then of each state.

Next, there are statutes, or duly enacted laws, from the federal government or a state government.

Then come regulations, duly promulgated (put forth) by a federal or state regulator.

Finally come court decisions, a decision of a judge or group of judges (appellate court) which makes a ruling in a particular case but also has broader legal weight that can apply to future cases. This principle of broader legal weight is known as "precedent", "stare decisis", or "judge made law".

In a future case, one side of lawyers will analogize that prior case, and say "Judge, this prior case is similar to our case here, and you should apply the law as the law applied it in that prior case."

 

The opposing side of lawyers will distinguish that prior case, and say "Judge, this prior case is different to our case here, and you should not apply the law as it was applied in that prior case. Instead, you should follow this other case."

Now here's that same diagram with a little more text.

Who interprets the law?

Laws are interpreted by humans, normally a judge who is also an attorney. Humans are not perfect, attorneys and judges are not either. And reasonable people will often disagree.

The U.S. Constitution is the highest legal rule in our country, but there is plenty of disagreement about what this rule currently is, and it's interpretation has clearly evolved and even reversed prior interpretations throughout history. Thus, even where the words of this rule have been fixed and unchanging over hundreds of years, it's meaning and interpretation has changed

Principles of law in the U.S.

Some principles of law that are important:

  • Our county is a nation of laws
  • No person should be above the law
  • Our highest law is the U.S. Constitution
  • Citizens play an important role in our country's law and legal system.
    • Citizens have the right and responsibility to vote (and cast an informed vote)
      • The officials we elect create laws and enforce laws
    • Citizens have the right and responsibility to serve on juries (and uphold that important duty)
      • Juries are the final test of a legal dispute
  • Law affects every one of us.

In this representative democracy, citizens elect the government that creates and then enforces and administers the law.

Fairness of the law and fairness of enforcement

It is helpful to separate two issues:

  1. What is the law (or what should it be), and
  2. How should the law be enforced and punished,

Laws could be fair, unfair, or somewhere in between. There will always be room for reasonable people to debate those issues (and remember that not every person is reasonable).

The next issue is enforcement of laws, and whether that is fair or not. Laws can be interpreted and enforced fairly, with consequences tailored to the infraction and person. Or they can be enforced unfairly, arbitrarily, or capriciously. Again, reasonable people will debate this as well.

Areas of law

There are dozens of areas of law, and there are lawyers and judges and arbitrators that specialize in these areas. I list them in my introduction to law outline (see link at bottom).

Cyberlaw

Cyberlaw is an important area of law because it is the intersection of law and digital spaces. Almost everything today involves cyber, and that means cyberlaw is everywhere. It includes cybercrime, cybersecurity, privacy, technology, and information systems.

I have spent years teaching about cyberlaw and wrote a book on it.Cyberlaw book cover - John Bandler

With my teaching, I realized that people need to know about traditional law first, and if people don't understand traditional law, they will not understand cyberlaw, and will have other problems navigating life and fulfilling duties of citizenship.

That's why my cyberlaw book has an entire part devoted to introductory law.

What does law mean to you?

The word "law" means different things to different people. What are your initial thoughts on these questions?

  • What is law?
  • Where do laws come from?
  • What is the purpose of law?
  • What would we do if we had no laws, or rule of law?

Conclusion

Laws and our legal system are important to know about. We are a nation of laws and we all play a role in our country and legal system. We all need to make legal decisions regularly (whether we know it or not), and eventually will face a significant legal issue that requires we obtain legal advice and properly understand it.

This short article is not tailored to your circumstances and is not legal or consulting advice.

If you want to learn more about law, there is lots on this site, and my Udemy course.

If your organization needs help with improving its internal documentation and compliance with laws and regulations, including regarding cybersecurity and protecting from cybercrime, let me know.

Additional reading

This article is hosted at https://johnbandler.com/law, copyright John Bandler, all rights reserved.

This article is also available on Medium.com at https://medium.com/@johnbandler/law-8e5444258a1 (though not kept as up to date).

Originally posted 3/27/2023, updated 01/27/2026.