
Law: A Very Short Introduction
Raymond Wacks(Author)
Oxford University Press
2nd Edition
Published on 24. September 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-19-874562-4 (ISBN)
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Description
Law is at the heart of every society, protecting rights, imposing duties, and establishing a framework for the conduct of almost all social, political, and economic activity. Despite this, the law often seems a highly technical, perplexing mystery, with its antiquated and often impenetrable jargon, obsolete procedures, and endless stream of complex statutes and legislation.
In this Very Short Introduction Raymond Wacks introduces the major branches of the law, describing what lawyers do, and how courts operate, and considers the philosophy of law and its pursuit of justice, freedom, and equality. In this second edition, Wacks locates the discipline in our contemporary world, considering the pressures of globalization and digitalisation and the nature of the law in our culture of threatened security and surveillance.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
In this Very Short Introduction Raymond Wacks introduces the major branches of the law, describing what lawyers do, and how courts operate, and considers the philosophy of law and its pursuit of justice, freedom, and equality. In this second edition, Wacks locates the discipline in our contemporary world, considering the pressures of globalization and digitalisation and the nature of the law in our culture of threatened security and surveillance.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
More details
Series
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
15 black and white halftones
Dimensions
Height: 174 mm
Width: 114 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
148 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-874562-4 (9780198745624)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions

Book
05/2023
3rd Edition
Oxford University Press
€13.00
Available immediately
Person
Raymond Wacks is Emeritus Professor of Law and Legal Theory at the University of Hong Kong. He is a prolific and influential writer on legal theory and human rights, in particular the protection of privacy, on which he is a leading international authority. Previous books include Understanding Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Legal Theory (OUP, 2012), Philosophy of Law: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2006), and Privacy: A Very Short
Introduction (OUP, 2015), which is now in its second edition.
Introduction (OUP, 2015), which is now in its second edition.
Content
1. Law's roots ; 2. Law's branches ; 3. Law and morality ; 4. Courts ; 5. Lawyers ; 6. The future of law ; Further reading ; Index