Law is the set of rules and policies that regulate a society or group. Whether it’s the laws that govern how survivors of violence are treated or the guidelines for which research grants can be approved, laws influence every aspect of daily life. A law can be either a legislative or judicial policy.
A legislative law, also called a statute, is a written document that has been passed by Congress and signed by the president. Once it becomes a law, a statute is assigned a numerical designation that tells when and how it was passed, such as “P.L. 107-101,” meaning it was passed in the 107th Congress and signed in the 101st session of the presidency.
The Constitution assigns Congress responsibility for organizing the executive and judicial branches of government, raising money and declaring war, among other powers. The President has the right to veto specific legislative acts, but a two-thirds majority of Congress can override the veto.
Legal systems vary across the world, with some countries using civil law and others employing common law or a mix of both. A legal system is usually governed by an overall code of rules, but it also leaves room for interpretation and creative jurisprudence to adapt to changing circumstances.
A law can be scientific or legislative. For example, a scientific law is the law of conservation of energy, which states that total energy in an isolated system remains constant. The Law of Conservation of Energy is based on the Archimedes Principle, which says that the buoyant force of an object equals the weight of the fluid it displaces.