Law is the set of rules created and enforced by social or governmental institutions to govern behavior. Its precise definition is a matter of longstanding debate. The legal philosopher Sir William Blackstone wrote that “law is the constituted and established rule of justice” and that there are four types of law: natural law, laws revealed in scripture and nature’s God, laws enacted by man and civil law.
The purpose of law is to establish standards, maintain order, resolve disputes and protect liberty and rights. For a more in-depth look at the various aspects of law, see legal theory; criminal law; administrative law; and property law.
Legal justification is the process of justifying a law or legal rule. It involves a ‘grounding’ in other legal norms and is a form of normative justification (Raz 1970: 179-183; MacCormick 1977: 189-203). For example, the law that says “Everyone has a right to his or her good name” is justified because the general principle of personal rights is valid.
Loyola Library has access to the legal scholarly database HeinOnline which contains thousands of articles on law and other subjects. This resource can be accessed by all members of the Loyola community. It contains articles from major general interest magazines and law reviews as well as scholarly journals. It can also be searched by subject and keyword, and is available through the online library catalog. The library also subscribes to the LexisNexis and Westlaw legal databases which include millions of law-related articles.