Law is a system of rules and guidelines, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets. Property law defines rights and obligations related to the transfer and title of personal (often referred to as chattel) and real property. Trust law applies to assets held for investment and financial security, while tort law allows claims for compensation if a person's rights or property are harmed. If the harm is criminalised in a statute, criminal law offers means by which the state can prosecute the perpetrator. Constitutional law provides a framework for the creation of law, the protection of human rights and the election of political representatives. Administrative law is used to review the decisions of government agencies, while international law governs affairs between Sovereign States in activities ranging from trade to environmental regulation or military action. Writing in 350 BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle declared, "The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual.

Legal systems elaborate rights and responsibilities in a variety of ways. A general distinction can be made between civil law jurisdictions, which codify their laws, and common law systems, where judge made law is not consolidated. In some countries, religion informs the law. Law provides a rich source of scholarly inquiry, into legal history, philosophy, economic analysis or sociology. Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness and justice. "In its majestic equality", said the author Anatole France in 1894, "the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread." In a typical democracy, the central institutions for interpreting and creating law are the three main branches of government, namely an impartial judiciary, a democratic legislature, and an accountable executive. To implement and enforce the law and provide services to the public, a government's bureaucracy, the military and police are vital. While all these organs of the state are creatures created and bound by law, an independent legal profession and a vibrant civil society inform and support their progress.

The Bachelor of Laws (abbreviated LL.B., LLB, or rarely, Ll.B.) is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law (or a first professional degree in law, depending on jurisdiction) originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree. In English-speaking Canada it is sometimes referred to as a post-graduate degree because previous university education is usually required for admission. The "LL." of the abbreviation for the degree is from the genitive plural legum (of lex, legis f., law), thus "LL.B." stands for Legum Baccalaureus in Latin. In the United States it was sometimes erroneously called "Bachelor of Legal Letters" to account for the double "L" (and therefore sometimes abbreviated as "L.L.B.").

In India, legal education has been traditionally offered as a three-year graduate degree conferring the title of LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws) or B.L. (Bachelor of Law). However the legal education system was revised by the Bar Council of India, the governing body of legal education in India in 1984. Pursuant thereto, various autonomous law schools were established that administer a five-year undergraduate degree programme and confer an integrated honours degree, such as "B.A., LL.B. (Honours)", "B.B.A, LL.B. (Honours)", "B.Sc., LL.B. (Honours)", etc.

Both the types of degrees (i.e., three-year and five-year integrated honours) are recognized and are also qualifying degrees for practice of legal profession in India. A holder of either type of degree may approach a Bar Council of any States of India and get upon compliance with the necessary standards, be enrolled on the rolls of the said Bar Council. The process of enrollment confers a license to the holder to practice before any court in India and give legal advice. The entire procedure of enrollment and post-enrollment professional conduct is regulated and supervised by the Bar Council of India.

The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. (also LLM or L.L.M, though these are technically incorrect) from its Latin name, Legum Magister. (For female students, the less common variant Legum Magistra may also be used.) The University of Oxford famously names its masters of laws B.C.L. (Bachelor of Common Law) and MJur (Magister Juris), the former being for common law students and the latter for civil law students.

In India, the thrust of legal education is on the undergraduate law degrees with most of those opting for the undergraduate law degree either going forward to enroll themselves with the Bar Council of India and start practicing as Advocates or giving legal advice without being eligible to appear in courts (a consequence of non-enrollment). Similar to the United Kingdom, a Masters degree in Law in India is basically opted to specialize in particular areas of law. Traditionally the most popular areas of specialization in these Masters degrees in law in India have been constitutional law, family law and taxation law.

However with the established of the specialized autonomous law schools in India in 1987 (the first was the National Law School of India University) much emphasis is being given at the master's level of legal education in India. With the establishment of these universities, focus in specialization has been shifted to newer areas such as intellectual property law, international trade law etc.