Introduction to Law

This chapter provides a brief introduction to law, where the laws of a country apply to all citizens and residents of the state. Roman law influenced the development of civil law, where the civil law tradition is focused on reasoning on the basis of rules and is the dominant tradition in Western Europe. Sharia law consists of a set of duties that all Muslims are expected to observe, and the law acts as a path to guide Muslims in their relationships with their neighbours, the state and with God. English common law operates on the principle of binding precedent, where the judge in a particular case must follow the decision of judges that have ruled on similar cases in the past. We discuss European law and the European convention of human rights.