Laws - Topics

Do laws shape how people behave or mostly ratify what they already do? Why does the state need a monopoly on punishment for law to mean anything? How much of what we call law is judges filling gaps the legislature left? Can a legal system hold together on community enforcement and no courts at all? What happens when the written law says one thing and everyone's habit says another? Does the fact that everyone believes something is illegal make it illegal? Why does the same act count as criminal in one country and a private dispute in another? How did everyday custom turn into law that courts will actually enforce? What actually separates a crime from a mere civil wrong? Is international law actually law if there is no world police? Why does calling something legal never settle whether it is right? Why do some legislatures allow a filibuster and others cut off debate? Who decides what counts as law before any court has ruled on it? Why can something be morally wrong yet perfectly legal? Common law vs code-based systems: why one leans on precedent and the other on statutes Is breaking an unjust law still wrong if you accept the punishment? What really separates a policy from a law when both change how people behave? Can a member be punished twice for the same offence under party discipline and criminal law? Why are party rules revised far more often than criminal statutes?