Law 121have the authority of the state behind them and are all equally
valid. Those laws exercised when the state assumes the role of
the aggrieved and prosecutes offenders are called criminal law.
Criminal law most closely resembles the definition stated ear
lier, which calls for rules enforced by the state with prescribed
punishments for their violation. Civil law deals with relations or
disputes between individuals; in these instances the state takes
the role of the arbiter. If individuals feel that they have been
unfairly taken advantage of by another, if they have been hurt,
defrauded, or in any way have been injured, the state, under its
rules, determines how an equitable settlement of the dispute is to
be made.
To illustrate further the concept of law requires a brief
discussion of international law. International law is law which
governs the dealings between nations. These laws are enacted in
the United Nations, by treaties which bring large numbers of
states into agreement, or in conventions of nations called to
decide on important issues. Much of international law is based
on customs which nations agree to observe as law. The problem
of international law rests then, not with the enactment, but with
the enforcement of law. There is no law-enforcement agency
within the international community that has the power that
national states have (sovereignty). Therefore, in a very real
sense, there is no such thing as international law. What there is,
is a system that is designed to encourage international coopera
tion. The system usually works, but if a nation chooses not to go
along with the international community, there is no sovereign
power to force compliance.
Law, then, in large measure, holds the community together by
forcing compliance with the rules that the community deems
necessary and good. But where does law come from? To the
average observer it may seem that law is the result of votes in
councils, senates, congresses, meetings, courts, and all manner
of assemblages. But, in fact, law is the product of a terribly
complex, interwoven, interrelated, evolution of social and his
torical forces. The United States Senate used to be called “the
greatest deliberative body” in the world. The organization of that
body was designed to encourage its members to consider those
forces and to consider the sources from which law evolves.
One source of law is custom. Men living in communities