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Introduction:
What is “law”?
Law is a phenomenon of human life. It is a social science that regulates the acts of human
beings and their relation in society, whether economic, political or sociological. In other words
law means “the group of binding rules that govern the behaviors of the individuals and their
relations in the society”. Therefore, it is impossible to imagine a developed society without laws
and regulations governing its life because law is the act of rules that provides justice.
Law, or the system of rules that regulates a society, must be in harmony without contradiction.
They must be made for the specific needs of the society and must be in accordance with its
morality and must follow its evolution (روطت ) and change in mentality (for ex the civil marriage
in Lebanon). For this reason, the Lebanese laws take into consideration, in some sectors of law,
the religious community which has a big influence in the laws of personal statutes.
To satisfy all the needs and evolutions, law is variable in space and time. It is variable in space
because each country, and sometimes each city or district, has its own set of rules. And it is
variable in time because changes in law reflect the changes in the society. That’s why law is
flexible, even though it seems to be rigid, and this flexibility is shown by the amendments every
time there is a need to do so.
I- Characteristics of law:
The rule of law is characterized by being:
1. General: because it is applied on all persons who have the same legal situation with no
distinction unless specified by law (e.g. Military service in Lebanon).
2. Permanent : but this doesn’t mean eternal (يدبأ ). This means that it remains valid until it is
cancelled by another law.
3. Binding : this means that there should be sanctions on those who do not abide by it. It should
be enforced by public forces.
4. Written: one of the main characteristics of the law where most modern countries adopted
the written and codified legislation.
II– Difference between “Law” and “Ethics”:
Ethics are the basis of law. Ethics regulate the lives of women and men in the society. However,
to clarify more, the differences between law and ethics are:
1. The rule of law defines the limit between good and bad conduct. In that it is similar to the
ethics, but ethics are wider than law in a way that law intends to maintain peace, order and
justice in society while ethics look for the perfection of the individual (e.g. charity).
2. The sources of ethics are philosophy, religion and own conscience (ريمضلا). Whereas law finds
its source in the will of humans and it is formulated and enforced by public authorities. Noting
that this difference sometimes disappears when a legal rule is supported by a very strong moral
sense (e.g. steeling or murder).
3. Ethics and law do not have the same sanctions. Sanctions in ethics are personal and
psychological (regret, confessions…) whereas sanctions for the breach of law are imposed by
public authority.
III– Difference between “Law” and “logic”(قطنملا):
Law and logic have followed the same bases of mathematical development. But although law
makers often follow reason and logic to reach the purpose for enacting laws (e.g. killer deserves
death), in some cases law was against logic (e.g. in the past the civil responsibility made the
owner of a car responsible for the harm caused to the person falling on the car. However, in
general law is based on logic.
IV– Sources of laws
There are many sources of law; some sources are binding (مزلم) others are not.
The binding sources are: the Constitution, International Treaties, written laws, Decrees, and
Ministerial Decisions (usually complements the law).
