Understanding The Law: Why It Applies To You

Laws are rules that bind all people living in a community. They are created and enforced by multiple organisations, including the President, Congress, courts, and government agencies. In the United States, laws are made at the federal, state, and local levels. Laws are designed to protect the rights of citizens and ensure that everyone is treated equally and fairly. They also help to maintain order and safety in society, covering areas such as food safety, traffic rules, and the proper training of medical professionals. While laws can be controversial, and citizens may not always agree with them, they are necessary to uphold the values of liberty, equality, and respect for others' rights that underpin American democracy.

Laws are for everyone

The rule of law is essential to maintaining peace and order in society. It sets the standard for acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, providing clarity and context for actions and their consequences. Laws are designed to mitigate conflict and ensure fairness, protecting citizens' rights and keeping everyone safe. For instance, laws against punching someone in the face allow the victim to seek justice, rather than simply responding with violence themselves.

Laws are also important in providing protection for the most vulnerable in society. Certain laws, such as the Civil Rights Act and the Sex Discrimination Act, make it illegal to discriminate based on race, sex, gender, or religion, giving these groups better access to justice. Laws are a tool for social change, making slavery, segregation, and apartheid illegal, and preventing people from being fired due to their marriage or disability.

Additionally, laws offer a variety of career options, with numerous specialisations within the legal field, such as contracts, immigration, and criminal law. The legal system provides opportunities for lawyers, professors, paralegals, consultants, and researchers, among others.

Laws are clear and accessible

The rule of law is a key feature of a democratic society and its legal system. It is a durable system of laws, institutions, norms, and community commitment that delivers four universal principles: accountability, just law, open government, and accessible and impartial justice.

For the rule of law to be effective, laws must be clear, stable, and predictable. This means that laws should be easy to understand, with limited government discretion, so that they can be applied predictably and in a non-arbitrary manner. The law must also be ascertainable and knowable to all citizens. When two people interpret a law, they should arrive at broadly similar conclusions.

To ensure this, laws should be made in an open and transparent way. They should be publicized and easily accessible to all. In a democratic state, the standards of clarity and intelligibility for laws are high. Citizens must be able to fully appreciate the contents and effects of proposed legislation and form an opinion before voting on it.

The language of the laws should be as close as possible to ordinary, everyday language in terms of syntax and vocabulary. However, it should also use the technical terms of the field being regulated. While this may impede understanding for some, this difficulty can be overcome through the use of a dictionary or other specialized resources. The use of precise terminology from the relevant field is more important for clarity than using simple language, as uncertainty about the exact meaning of a law caused by illogicality or the use of synonyms can create doubt and confusion.

The rule of law requires that laws be stable and not subject to constant amendments. This stability allows citizens to know the law and plan their actions accordingly. It also helps to ensure that laws are applied evenly and without bias.

In addition to being clear, the law must also be accessible to all. This means that legal processes must be sufficiently robust and accessible to ensure the enforcement of citizen protections. Legal institutions like courts and tribunals exist to provide solutions to legal problems, and citizens must have access to these institutions to receive just outcomes. Access to justice also includes access to legal advice, as most people cannot afford to pay a lawyer for an extended period without financial hardship.

In summary, for the rule of law to function properly, laws must be clear, stable, and accessible to all citizens. This ensures that individuals can know and understand the law, plan their actions accordingly, and seek justice when needed.

Laws ensure fairness

The principle of fairness in law is closely related to the concept of justice, which means giving each person what they deserve or, in other words, what they are due. For example, if two people do the same work, they should be paid the same wages. If one person is paid more due to factors that are irrelevant to the work, such as race or gender, this is considered an injustice and a form of discrimination.

Fairness in law also involves impartiality and honesty, being free from self-interest, prejudice, or favoritism. Law enforcement agencies, for instance, are expected to uphold fairness by treating people equally and justly. Without the public's perception of impartiality, law enforcement officers may face increased struggles and a lack of cooperation from citizens.

Furthermore, laws are designed to be fair and must be followed and enforced. Courts play a crucial role in ensuring fairness by deciding whether laws were applied properly and imposing sentences on those found guilty of violating the law. Judges base their sentencing decisions on the specifics of the crime committed, aiming to ensure that individuals who commit the same crime under similar circumstances receive comparable punishments.

An important aspect of fairness in the legal system is the presumption of innocence. This means that everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty in a fair and public trial. People can only be punished if a court has decided they have broken the law, and their actions must have been illegal at the time of the offence.

To maintain fairness, laws must be reviewed, updated, and removed when necessary to reflect social values and ensure they remain relevant and just. This process is often facilitated by independent agencies that provide recommendations for law reform to the government.

Laws prevent harm

Laws are established to prevent harm and ensure fairness in society. The 'harm principle' is a central concept in the philosophy of law, which holds that the actions of individuals should be limited only to prevent harm to other individuals. This principle was first fully articulated by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill in his 1859 essay, 'On Liberty'. Mill argued that:

> The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection...His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant [for legal coercion].

Mill's harm principle is reflected in the US Declaration of Independence, which states that all men are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".

However, the harm principle has been criticised for its ambiguous definition of what constitutes harm and its failure to specify whether the state is justified in using intervention tactics. Despite these criticisms, laws that are designed to prevent harm are a key feature of democracy and help to create order and fairness in society.

Laws protect human rights

Laws are essential for protecting human rights. The rule of law is a key feature of democracy, and it ensures that all people are equal before the law and must obey it. This principle, established in constitutions and international declarations, guarantees that everyone is treated fairly and justly, regardless of their status.

One of the primary functions of laws is to uphold human rights and ensure that individuals are protected from unlawful discrimination. For example, the Office of Human Rights (OHR) in Washington, DC, enforces laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which safeguard individuals from discrimination based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, disability status, and age.

Laws also play a crucial role in promoting equality and preventing arbitrary actions by those in power. The separation of powers, as seen in democratic systems, ensures that the power to make and manage laws is shared between different groups, such as the Parliament, the Executive, and the Judiciary. This distribution of power limits the authority of any one group and protects citizens' rights by preventing the arbitrary exercise of power.

Additionally, laws provide a framework for addressing human rights violations. The United Nations (UN), for instance, has established several legal instruments and bodies dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), proclaimed in 1948, is a milestone document that sets out fundamental human rights to be universally protected. The UN has also established the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which has the lead responsibility for promoting and protecting human rights within the UN system. The OHCHR supports human rights components of peacekeeping missions and has offices and advisors worldwide to address human rights issues.

The rule of law ensures that laws are accessible, understandable, and enforced, enabling individuals to know their rights and seek redress if those rights are violated. It also allows for the review, update, and removal of laws to ensure they remain fair and reflective of societal values, thereby protecting human rights and adapting to societal changes.

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