laws and written laws??

The purpose is do your own homework.

The value is do your own homework.

It serves people who do their own homework.

It makes people do their own homework.

They are created to make people do their own homework.

Well the most influential treatise on law in Western civilization would be the Institutes by Emperor Justinian. Our entire legal system is based on these fundamental ideas.

Laws are divided into two types: lex and jus. Lex are the written laws of a community and reflect that society's moral values. Jus is the unwritten natural law that is common to both humans and beast i.e. it doesn't need to be written down that stealing another's possessions is wrong.

Written law also serves as a foundation of society. All members of that society are expected to follow its laws and to know them. To prevent arbitrary government, a free society cannot impose punishment without first creating a law. The Latin phrase for this doctrine is "nulla poena sine lege" (no punishment without law). The modern term for this doctrine is "the legality principle".

And so, law serves as the foundation of society. It is a "social contract" as Locke put it. It has its value in that it allows us to come together and strive for a united goal for the benefit of all. A written law gives it notice, force and authority. The law serves the people in a democracy and the government or leader in a dictatorship. It changes people's behaviors through its enforcement and the traditional justifications of punishment:

1. rehabilitation to create productive members of society

2. incapacitation to prevent future crimes

3. deterrence in others and deterrence in the criminal from committing future crimes

4. retribution or "just desert" to provide satisfaction to the victims of a crime (death penalty)

laws are created as a matter of policy to effect a change in society, to appease a constituency, or to reward individuals or organizations (tax breaks for married couples etc.)

Legislation extends the authority and norms of the central power out to the farthest reaches of a state. It also prevents people from using 'I didn't know,' as an excuse, and keeps the judiciary from significantly changing the law depending on their personal peccadilloes.

To promote order and avoid chaos or anarchy.

Think of the wild wild west vs. today.