Rules serve several important functions in society. They provide standards of conduct, protect individuals and resources, and allow for order and predictability. There are two main types of rules: primary rules that impose obligations on citizens, and secondary rules that govern how primary rules are created, changed, and enforced. While legal rules are formally enforced through institutions like courts, social rules like customs, ethics and morality also shape behavior through informal social pressures. Both legal and social rules aim to control conduct, but they differ in their validity, enforcement, compliance, dispute resolution, and sanctions for violations.

1. LAW AS
RULES
Introduction to Law 1
LAW012
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2. LESSON OUTLINE
a) Introduction & Definition of Rules
b) Function of rules
c) Characteristic of rules
d) Type of Rules
e) Rules as a form of social control
f) Legal Rules v Social Rules
g) Conclusion
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3. WHAT IS RULES??
Definition of Rules
• Standard of ruling for a particular activities or conduct –
should or should not, how the activities should be
conducted.
• Lon Fuller - a jurist define law as the enterprise of
subjecting human conduct to the governance of rules. Law
as a set of rules that governs the behavior of the society
• Twining and Miers - define rules as a general norm
guiding conduct or action in a given type of situation.
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4. • Rules for imposing self-restraint – we might submit to
temptation and take property or life of someone in the
weak position.
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5. • Need to develop a rules in order to avoid uncertainty in the
society (rule of change) – since there is a recognize
rules of conduct govern the society.
• All rules whether legal, customary or moral is considers as
normative, laying down the standards of behaviour to
which we ought to conform if the rules affect us.
• Family, school, government bodies, agencies exists and
operate by way of rules.
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6. FUNCTION OF RULES
• Function of rules according to HLA Hart:
a) Truism about human nature
– Human vulnerability – people susceptible to physical
attack
– Approximate Equality – even strongest must sleep at
times
– Limited altruism – people selfish
– Limited resources
– Limited understanding and strength of will
That’s why we need rules as natural necessity for
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7. b) ‘Minimum content of law’ to protect society from violence,
satisfy needs and survival.
– Law must have restrictions on free exercise of violence
– Law must be based on mutual forbearance
– Law must regulate the use of property
– Law must provide creation of obligations
– Law must provide sanctions if they are not obeyed.
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8. CHARACTERISTICS OF RULES
• Imperative (very important/crucial)
• Unwritten or written
• Negative and Positive terms
• Deals with punishment/penalty
• Command from authority
• Have exception
• Guide standard of behaviour
• Normative – prescribe the desirable or undesirable
conduct, lawful or unlawful.
• Justification for decision – why rules should be obeyed.
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9. TYPES OF RULES
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10. PRIMARY RULES
• Forbid or require certain actions and can generate duties
or obligations (imposing duties).
• For a citizen with an internal perspective to the law, the
existence of a primary rule will create an obligation for
him or her to behave a certain way.
• Example: walking out of the Apple Store with an IPod
without paying or the law requiring you to stop at a red
light - criminal law.
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11. SECONDARY RULES
• Set up the procedures through which primary rules can be
introduced, modified, or enforced (rules about the rules).
• Example: a coach is permitted to challenge a call by the
referee, but must accept the final decision of the ref
following the viewing of the instant replay.
• Without secondary rules the society would be very static –
must have variation.
• 3 types of secondary rules:
a) rules of recognition – how to identify law, which
rules is valid.
b) rules of change - to facilitate the legislative to
change the primary rules.
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12. c) rules of adjudication - The rules which give power
to officials to pass judgment in cases of alleged wrongs e.g.
by ordering the payment of money or putting someone in
prison
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13. Rules as a form of social control
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14. What is social control?
• Refers to the way members of a society maintain order
and promote predictability of behaviour. It is to make sure
that the member of the society to conform with society’s
expectation.
• E.A Ross define ‘social control’ as a broad term to cover
not only law but also public opinion, religion, education,
custom and other less obvious things such as art.
• Apart from legal enforcement, social control seeks to play
its informal role to control the behaviour of the society.
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15. LEGAL RULES/LAW
• Law as a form of social control that declares certain types
of act or omission as unlawful and subjected to
punishment – criminal law
• Criminal law aims at:
- Punishment
-Deterrence
- Retribution
• Example???
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16. SOCIAL RULES
a) RELIGION
• Al-Quran and Bible
• Roscoe Pound said that not all matters are governed by
law. Therefore, some interests are taken care of by
religion.
• Durkheim observes that religion is the original source of
law, morality, science or philosophy - Imposes moral
restrain on action
• Different religion promotes different set of beliefs and 16

17. b) MORAL
• Individual beliefs what is right or wrong.
• Expectation on morality based on society values,
folkways, religious belief.
• What is moral and immoral are familiar part of argument
– each society shares certain expectation about what is
considered appropriate and desirable, good or evil.
• Moral obligation is referring to general view supported by
our society – adultery as immoral conduct is a view of
society.
• It is enforced by social pressures such as critism of the
culprit and sympathy for the victim.
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18. c) ETHIC
• Concern with what is right, fair, just or good.
• The word ‘ethics’ derived from the Greek word ‘Ethos’
which means character and from the Latin word mores
(customs) – how individuals choose to interact with one
another.
• Example : our ways to respect the elders via talking or
by conduct, eat, drink, work, relax.
• Ethical rules are branch of morality and usually regulate
the conduct of professional people such as lawyers,
doctors in dealing with their patients or clients.
• It can also be codified i.e. Legal Profession Ethics rules.
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19. d) CUSTOMARY RULES
• Unwritten laws.
• Community based characteristic and it is passed from one
generation to another.
• Custom is formed through habit and out of practice. It is
also based on tradition (Ferdinand Tonnie)
• According to Lowie the unwritten laws of customary usage
were obeyed far more willingly than our written code.
• But for Hart, custom has no legal status unless it is being
recognized by law or a particular legal system.
• Has no legal status but persuasive.
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20. e) FASHIONS
• The best style at certain period or at a place – trend in
society and must be fit to a certain particular situation or
group in society.
• According to Austin, law of fashion is the law improperly
so called, as it is the laws set and enforced by mere
opinion.
• Fashions may vary according to age, social class,
generation, occupation, sexual orientation etc.
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21. f) TABOO
• Derived from the word “Tapu”, a Fijian word which means
prohibition/forbidden.
• It is a strong social prohibition against certain acts that is
deemed offensive by a group, culture, society or
community.
• For e.g., talking about sexual orientation is a taboo in Malay
culture, but not in the West, restriction in using offensive
language.
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22. Legal Rules v Social Rules
• Enforcement
• Validity
• Compliance
• Sanction
• Dispute settlement
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23. SOCIAL RULES LEGAL RULES
• Informal form of control
• Whereby it not exercised through
official institution and no special
• Formal form of social control
• Involved institutions in society
and are characteristic by the
ENFORCEMENT
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24. SOCIAL RULES LEGAL RULES
• Still valid, it’s just that social rules
are informal and unofficial.
•Made by deliberate act.
• Golding states that law is
distinguished from other rules such as
sports rules, moral in term of its
criteria of validity.
VALIDITY
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25. SOCIAL RULES LEGAL RULES
• Informal sanction
• In the form of social
repercussion such as praise,
• Formal sanction
• Penal and restitutive
punishment are
SANCTION
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26. SOCIAL RULES LEGAL RULES
• Usually done through internal
control.
• Compliance to social norms as
• Usually done via external
pressures.
• Exercise by either state or
COMPLIANCE
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27. SOCIAL RULES LEGAL RULES
• Informal mode of dispute settlement.
• Robert Simon says that it may include
the use of physical force, resort to
• Formal mode of dispute settlement
• Legal and non-legal proceeding (ADR)
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
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28. THANK YOU
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