Law - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition law

Definition :

Law [fr. lage, lagea, or lah, Sax.; loi, Fr.; legge, Ital.; lex, fr. ligo, Lat., to bind], a rule of action to which men are obliged to make their conduct conformable. A command, enforced by some sanction, to acts or forbearances of a class: see Austin's Jurisprudence; 1 Bl. Com. 38. A principle of conduct may be observed habitually by an individual or a class. When sufficiently formulated or defined to be observed uniformly by the whole of a class it may become a custom; or it may be imposed on all individuals who consent or are unable to resist its application and the sanction or penalty which is imposed for non-compliance, and in that case it becomes a law. If, in addition, the law and its sanction are imposed by, or by authority of a sovereign, the law becomes 'positive' (see Austin's Jurisprudence). Short of positive law the principle may be called a moral or social law. Generally speaking, jurisprudence is concerned only with positive law, and law in its ordinary legal sense means positive law. See LEX.

It includes any enactment, proclamation Regulation, rule, notification or other instrument, having, immediately before the appointed day, the force of law in the whole of any part of the territory now comprised in the state of sikkim. Order, 2(1)(c) of Adaptation of Sikkim Laws (No. 1) order, 1975, Kunga Nima Lepcha v. State of Sikkim, AIR 2006 Sikkim 1.

The law of foreign countries is a question of fact in English Courts. See FOREIGN LAW.

It (English) is also sometimes used as opposed to equity, meaning the principles followed in Common Law Courts in contradistinction to those which were administered only in courts of equity: now, however, in all branches of the Supreme Court and in inferior courts (Jud. Act, 1873, ss. 24, 89, 91) (now Judicature Act,1925, ss. 36-43, 44, 202), full effect is to be given to all equitable rights. See, further, s. 25 (now Jud. Act, 1925, ss. 44, 45), by which the law on several points has now been altered.

In Article 21 the word 'law' has been used in the sense of State made law and not as an equivalent of law in the abstract or general sense embodying the principles of natural justice, A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras, AIR 1950 SC 27: (1950) SCR 88.

It is manifest that the law must satisfy two tests before it can be a valid law, namely, (1) that the appropriate legislature has competency to make the law; and (2) that it does not take away or abridge any of the fundamental rights enumerated in Part III of the Constitution, Kavalappara Kochuni v. State of Madras and Kerala, AIR 1960 SC 1080: (1960) 3 SCR 887.

It is defined under Article 3(a) of Constitution to include a notification, Madhubhai Amathalal Gandhi v. Union of India, AIR 1961 SC 21: (1961) 1 SCR 191.

The word 'law' in Article 21 refers to law made by the State and not to positive law or law in the abstract sense embodying the principles of natural justice, and 'procedure established by law' means procedure established by law made by the State, that is to say, by the Union Parliament or the Legislatives of the States, Ram Chandra Prasad v. State of Bihar, AIR 1961 SC 1629: (1962) 2 SCR 50.

It includes industrial law as evolved by industrial decisions. Provincial Transport Services v. State Industrial Court, AIR 1963 SC 114: (1963) 3 SCR 650.

The word 'law' was defined in the Chandernagore (Merger) Act, 1954, as follows: [S. 2(d)] ' 'law' means so much of any enactment, Ordinance, Regulation, order, rule, scheme, notification, bye-law or any other instrument having the force of law and relates to matters enumerated in List I and List III in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution', Sachindra Mohan Nandy v. State of West Bengal, AIR 1971 SC 963: (1971) 1 SCC 657: (1971) 3 SCR 795.

It includes any enactment, ordinance, regulation, order, bye-law, rule, scheme, notification or other instrument having, immediately before the appointed day, the force of law in the whole or in any part of the State of Bombay; The memorandum of Central Government, dated 11th May, 1957 was an approval in terms of the proviso to sub-s. (7) of s. 115 of the States Reorganisation Act. It is, therefore, an order or othe purposes of the definition of 'law'. That circular had certainly the force of law in the whole of the State of Bombay, J.K. Vasavada v. Chandrakanta Chimanlal BhavsarAIR 1975 SC 2089 (2091): (1975) 4 SCC 734.

It means law enacted by the State. Law must have some firmness. Law means positive State-made law, Additional District Magistrate v. Shivakant Shukla, AIR 1976 SC 1207: (1976) 2 SCC 521: (1976) Supp SCR 172.

The word 'law' in the expression 'procedure established by law' in Article 21 means a law which is right, just and fair and not arbitrary, fanciful or oppressive, Sunil Batra v. Delhi Administration AIR 1978 SC 1675: (1979) 1 SCR 392: (1978) 4 SCC 494.

It is not 'a brooding Omnipotence in the sky' but a pragmatic instrument of social order. It is an operational art controlling economic life, and interpretative effort must be imbued with the statutory purpose, Carew and Company Ltd. v. Union of India, AIR 1975 SC 2260 (2269): (1975) 2 SCC 791.

It exists to serve society which is governed by it. The law is to play its allotted role of serving the needs of the society, it must reflect the ideas and ideologies of that society. It must keep time with the heartbeats of the society and with the needs and aspirations of the people, Central Inland Water Transport Corporation Ltd. v. Brojo Nath Ganguly, AIR 1986 SC 1571: (1986) 3 SCC 156.

An Ordinance answers the expression 'law' as contemplated in Article 21, A.K. Roy v. Union of India, AIR 1982 SC 710: (1982) 1 SCC 271.

The bye-laws of a co-operative society framed in pursuance of the provisions of a statute can be held to be law or to have the force of law, Co-operative Central Bank Ltd. v. Additional Industrial Tribunal, AIR 1970 SC 245: (1969) 2 SCC 43.

An executive order cannot be regarded as existing law or 'law in force', K.O. John v. State, AIR 1956 Trav 117.

It includes any Act of Parliament or of a State Legislature, Ordinances promulgated by the President or a Governor, as the case may be. Regulations made by the President under Article 240, Bills enacted as President's Act under sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of Article 357 of the Constitution and includes rules, regulations, bye-laws and orders issued or made thereunder. [Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000), s. 2(1) (y)]

The expression 'law' includes the Appropriation Acts. It is true that the Appropriation Acts cannot be said to give a direct legislative sanction to the trade activities themselves. But so long as the trade activities are carried on in pursuance of the policy which the executive Government has formulated with the tacit support of the majority in the legislature, no objection on the score of their not being sanctioned by specific legislative provision can possibly be raised, Ram Jonaya Kapur v. State of Punjab, AIR 1955 SC 549 (557): (1955) 2 SCR 225. [Constitution of India, Article 266(3)]

The 'law' in Article 265 of the Constitution must be a valid law. A law to be valid must not only be one passed by the Legislature in exercise of a power conferred on it, but must also be one that does not infringe the fundamental rights declared by the Constitution, Balaji v. I.T.O., AIR 1962 SC 123 (128). (Constitution of India, Article 265)

It generally is a body of rules which have been laid down for determining legal rights and legal obligations which are recognised by courts. In that sense, a law can be distinguished from a grant, because in the case of a grant, the grantor and the grantee both agree about the making and the acceptance of the grant; not so in the case of law. Law in the case of an absolute monarch is his command which has to be obeyed by the citizens whether they agree with it or not, Raj Kumar Nursing Pratap Singh Deo v. State of Orissa, AIR 1964 SC 1793 (1797).

It includes any Ordinance, order bye-law, rule, regulation, notification, custom or usage having in the territory of India the force of law, Sant Ram v. Labh Singh, AIR 1965 SC 314 (316): (1964) 7 SCR 756.

It includes any Ordinance, Order, bye-laws, rules, regulation, notification, customs or usage having the territory of India the force of law. [Constitution of India, Art. 13(3)(a)]

Laws inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights are void. It does not apply to Amendment to Constitution under Art. 368. [Constitution of India, Art. 13]

All the rules of conduct established and enforced by the authority. Webster American Dictionary, p. 808.

Is an agreement between a native ruler and a company executing the company taxes and action, is not law, Bengal N.C. Mills v. Board of Revenue, Madhya Pradesh, AIR 1964 SC 888.