Role and Functions of Law Mark Hopper LAW 421 May 28, 2012 Kim Peterson Role and Functions of Law The history of law goes back thousands of years. It seems that law has popped up in many civilizations at different times over the course of their evolution. The system of law practiced in the United States today is derived from the English common law that was in place during the revolutionary war. The role and function of law can be a very complicated topic for discussion. Law can be defined as “the body of official rules and regulations, generally found in constitutions, legislation, judicial opinions, and the like, that is used to govern a society and to control the behavior of its members, so Law is a formal mechanism of social control” (Sixth Form Law, 2012). The role of law in society as defined above is about creating rules that tell people what the general population will accept in terms of behavior. The Law also tells people what the consequences will be for misbehavior according to these laws. The Law helps protect people from others and sometimes from themselves. This is perhaps the role that most people would associate with the Law. Law also plays a role in the business world. Business law is sometimes referred to as Commercial law. Commercial law “governs the broad areas of business, commerce, and consumer transactions. Specific law has developed in a number of commercial fields” (Legal Information Institute, 2010). Those fields include sales, mortgages, banking, and landlord-tenant, to name just a few. There are times when the commercial law protects businesses and often times when commercial law provides rules in which a business must operate, thus protecting the employees of the business. The restaurant