The Origin, Nature, and Purposes of Law

The obscurity of the origin of law is founded on the fact that law is a precondition of society. Basically, law started from the rule of only one person who controls the activities of others. It was later on developed into a set of rules that governs the activities of the people belonging to a specific country. Hence, the rule of law and not of men was developed. Although some countries remained elusive to this legal system, most of the people around the world believed that the implementation of laws would make the world a peaceful place to live.

The nature of a law may be positive, negative and or restrictive which would allow all men to follow. A positive law mandates to the performance of a necessary act. For a negative or restrictive law, a person is prohibited from doing something that would probably injure of damage the rights of others. Thus, the ultimate purpose of the law is to set a harmonious environment in every society. Without laws, chaos and tyranny will rule all over the society. There will be no freedom and liberty for men to enjoy. With that, only those who are duly-constituted authorities who could create and implement laws. In other words, no one is even allowed to transcend the law even those authorized by the Constitution of a certain country.

Essentially, the concept of law was obvious to primitive men when they realized that the rule of one against the other is not an effective government. Men tend to understand the law when they experienced its essence and usefulness especially in their dealings with other people. Personally, I am grateful to those who initiated the development of laws because I was one of those who are benefited by the implementation of the law in the country where I belong.