あらゆる形で私たちの日常生活に係わる法律ですが、一般にはその主な概念、用語、法制度の手続きは般に馴染みがありません。法とはどのようにして機能するのか。現代の法体制を、西洋の伝統の文脈にとどまらずグローバルな視点で解説します。改訂第3版は、新型コロナウイルス感染症のパンデミック、監視社会化、ジョージ・フロイド事件を発端としたブラック・ライブズ・マター運動の台頭など法律に影響を与えた多くの社会的・政治的出来事を取り上げ考察しています。
  

           
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. Wacks locates the discipline in our contemporary world, considering the pressures of globalization and digitalization and the nature of the law in our culture of threatened security and surveillance. In this new edition, the author considers a number of social and political events that have had an impact on the law, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the growth of social media and surveillance, and the increasing threats to the rule of law.