Role and Functions of the Law

The role and functions of the law

Throughout history, laws have helped to create stability, structure and ordinance throughout the world. Since the beginning of mankind, there has always been some sort of order, whether it was set in stone, or writing, there has been order placed and what is and is not acceptable amongst society and people. Law helps to provide structure, guidance, set guidelines for proper behavior, protect society and their property, as well as maintain order as well give solutions to confrontational disputes. The law helps to set standards of what is socially acceptable throughout society, and what helps create and maintain civilization. If there was no law enforced, society, civilization would be a scene of chaos and destruction, there would be riots and no order anywhere, and society would no longer live in a free country. Without a complex and justified legal system holding up the law, society would not be free, in order to keep it free we have to keep a justified legal system.

The judicial system is what helps to hold up the law, without it there would be no law to be had. The United States has three different branches of the government, the legislative branch (the part of the government that creates laws), the judicial branch (which delegates laws accordingly) and the executive branch (which enforces and ensures the laws are followed by citizens and society). Within the judicial branch are the state courts that carry out each of the fifty states courts. The state court systems are designed to uphold the constitution. Their structure is built by the constitution and then added onto by the legislation. The state court systems have three structures within them, trail courts (this is where trials take place), appellate courts (The part of the judicial system that is responsible for hearing and reviewing appeals from legal cases that have already been heard in a trial-level or other lower), and the state supreme courts (this is considered the last resort, similar to appellate courts, they hear and decide upon appeals to legal issues). Some states have different court systems within their jurisdiction that vary from state to state. For instance Washington State consists of the superior court system, the court of appeals, the Supreme Court and the court of limited jurisdiction. Each court system carries its own set of courts within their jurisdiction within the fifty states, as it can vary from state to state depending on their state court systems. In Washington each court has its own proceedings and jurisdiction they follow. For instance, the supreme administers the state court systems and handles the appeals made by the court of appeals; the court of appeals takes care of Appeals from lower courts except those in jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The superior court within Washington State takes care of civil matters, domestic relations, felony criminal cases, juvenile proceedings