Law is a set of rules that governments create and citizens must follow. If you break a law, you can get fined or go to jail.
Legal systems vary across countries, but they all have some common features that help them work together and keep things fair and even. These include the rule of law, justice, and equality.
A court is a legal institution where people can go and get justice, have their cases decided, or plead guilty or not guilty to charges brought against them. A court can be federal, state, or local.
Courts are generally made up of a chief judge, judges who have seniority, and other staff. The chief judge is in charge of deciding cases and is responsible for overseeing the operations of the court.
Lawyers are a group of professionals that provide legal advice and help make decisions in court. They are also the ones who represent individuals in court, so they need to know what laws apply to them and how to use them to their advantage.
Evidence
The facts of a case are presented to a judge or jury in the form of testimony, documents, or exhibits. The facts are what a judge or jury will use to decide the case for one side or the other.
Exhibits typically contain physical evidence, such as weapons, contracts, and photographs. It is also a good idea to have some circumstantial evidence, such as eyewitness testimony, so that the judge or jury can make a more accurate decision.
Precedent
The law has a system of binding precedent, which means that if the same judge or jury has come to the same conclusion before, they must do so again unless it is clear that they would have reached different conclusions. This helps ensure that similar cases reach the same results and prevents courts from making up their own laws.
Appeals
After a trial, both parties can appeal to another court to ask them to reconsider their decision or change their interpretation of the law. Appeals can be for many reasons, including a violation of the trial process or an inadequacy in the way that the case was presented to the judge or jury.
Powers
Legal powers are the ability to make or influence normative decisions, to act as agents, and to hold a certain position. Normally, legal powers are vested in government officials or public persons, and private actors may only have power over other private individuals, companies, or institutions (Fitzgerald 1966: 220-225).
Justification
Legal justification is a basis for legal validity, but it does not necessarily involve the recognition of rights. It is often a matter of how a person’s right correlates with their duties or whether their duties are conditioned by their rights (MacCormick 1982: 162).
Religious law
Religion plays a significant role in some legal systems, such as Jewish and Islamic. It is based on religious precepts that are codified in canons and laws, which often survive as part of a more detailed system of jurisprudence known as Sharia.