Law

Law in Europe

Definition of Law

A law is an obligatory rule of conduct. The term is applied to observed uniformities of action, as in the law of gravitation. But its proper use is in the sphere of jurisprudence.
There are different views as to the nature of law. Hobbes defined law as ” The commands of him or them that have coercive power.” Austin followed with, ” A law is a rule of conduct imposed and enforced by the Sovereign.” Salmond substituted, ” Law is the body of principles recognised and applied by the State in the administration of justice.” On the other hand, Blackstone maintained that a rule of law made on a pre-existing custom exists as positive law apart from the legislator or Judge, and Maine pointed out there is law in primitive societies. Savigny regarded law as itself subject to evolution and as no arbitrary expression of the will of the law giver.
Jhering found the end of law in the ” delimitation of interests,” and Vinogradoff saw law as “A set of rules imposed and enforced by a society with regard to the attribution and exercise of power over personsand things.” De Montmorency analyses law ultimately as the rules which bind men together in society in its struggle against natural environment. ” Adaptation to environment is the condition of survival. Custom was the method by which man adapted himself to environment. To break custom was to face death.” He adds, “Coercion is a weapon of law which law has forged,, but it is not the basis of law.”
The difficulty is solved if it is seen that although the nature of law is a constant, its promulgation and enforcement vary according to the stage of political development reached by a society. Anson disposes for all time of the difficulties of Austin ” When the State has attained to regularity in definition and enforcement of rules of conduct, then we get the positive law with which Austin delighted to torment himself and his readers.

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Definition of Law is, temporally, from A Concise Law Dictionary (1927). This page needs to be proofread.

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Introduction

Content about Law from the publication “The ABC of European Union law” (2010, European Union) by Klaus-Dieter Borchardt.

The constitution of the EU, and particularly the fundamental values it embodies, can be brought to life and given substance only through Union law. This makes the EU a legal reality in two different senses: it is created by law and is a community based on law.

The EU As A Creation of Law and A Community Based On Law

Content about Law from the publication “The ABC of European Union law” (2010, European Union) by Klaus-Dieter Borchardt.

This is what is entirely new about the EU, and what distinguishes it from earlier attempts to unite Europe. It works not by means of force or subjugation but simply by means of law. Law is intended to achieve what ‘blood and iron’ have for centuries failed to bring about. For only unity based on a freely made decision can be expected to last: unity founded on the fundamental values such as freedom and equality, and protected and translated into reality by law. That is the insight underlying the Treaties that created the European Union.

Context of Law in the European Union

However, the EU is not merely a creation of law but also pursues its objectives purely by means of law. It is a community based on law. The common economic and social life of the peoples of the Member States is governed not by the threat of force but by the law of the Union. This is the basis of the institutional system. It lays down the procedure for decision-making by the Union institutions and regulates their relationship to each other. It provides the institutions with the means – in the shape of regulations, directives and decisions – of enacting legal instruments binding on the Member States and their citizens. Thus the individuals themselves become a main focus of the Union. Its legal order directly affects their daily life to an ever-increasing extent. It accords them rights and imposes obligations on them, so that as citizens both of their State and of the Union they are governed by a hierarchy of legal orders – a phenomenon familiar from federal constitutions. Like any legal order, that of the EU provides a self-contained system of legal protection for the purpose of recourse to and the enforcement of Union law. Union law also defines the relationship between the EU and the Member States.

More about Law in the European Union

The Member States must take all appropriate measures to ensure fulfilment of the obligations arising from the Treaties or resulting from action taken by the institutions of the Union. They must facilitate the achievement of the EU’s tasks and abstain from any measure that could jeopardise the attainment of the objectives of the Treaties. The Member States are answerable to the citizens of the EU for any harm caused through violations of Union law.


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