law, body of official rules and regulations, generally found in constitutions, legislation, judicial opinions, and the like, that is used to govern a society and to control the behaviour of its members. in the most general sense, there are two kinds of law natural law and positive law. natural law has been recognized since the ancient world to be a general body of rules of right conduct and justice common to all mankind. this concept grew from the observation of the operation of the laws of nature and their uniformity.
positive law, on the other hand, consists of regulations formulated by the heads of a country or society. in many cases, natural laws have been written into positive laws by governments. the prohibition against killing, for example, is common to virtually all of mankind, and most nations have enacted laws against it.
the nature and functions of law have varied throughout history. in modern societies, some authorized body such as a legislature...