Law is a system of rules that governs how a country is run. For example, if you steal something you may be fined or sent to jail. Similarly, laws prevent people from murder.
Law can be divided into two categories: civil law and criminal law. The first category is made up of legal rules that must be followed by all citizens, and the second consists of criminal law.
The first category is typically referred to as “laws of the land” and is made up of all legal rules that must be followed by everyone in a specific place, such as a state or country. These include rules about how to treat others and how to live your life.
There are also some laws that are not always considered part of law, such as moral rules or customs. This is sometimes called “freedom of speech” or “freedom of the press”.
A right, in positive law, is a normative category that manifests Hohfeldian forms in the sense that it represents or entitles right-holders (Lyons 1994: 11; Margalit & Raz 1990: 209). Generally, these rights are conceived as correlatives to other positive legal norms (e.g., legislative power; prosecutorial power) and are based on other extra-legal considerations.
These other considerations include the good of the group as a whole, the general welfare, and public order. They also include the interest of those affected by a law, as well as those who can benefit from it.
The third category of legal norms that exhibit Hohfeldian forms is what is sometimes called the “will theory” or the “demand theory” of rights. This theory focuses on the capacity or power of right-holders to claim or demand that others perform their obligations (Feinberg 1970; 1980: 130-158; 1992: 155; Darwall 2006: 18-19; 2007: 60-65; 2010; 2011; Skorupski 2010: 310-311).
While some legal rights are viewed as a way of expressing conclusions of law, other rights seem to be set up as reasons in favor of certain legal positions (e.g., Articles 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
Some rights are set up as positive duties owed to others, such as the obligation to protect someone’s life or not to deprive another person of their property. However, these duties are usually not owed to everyone. For example, some rights such as the freedom of expression and the right to privacy are not owed to all, even those that are intended to promote a particular social interest.
Moreover, some rights are deemed to be negative, or prohibitions, such as the obligation to provide life-saving drugs to someone who has a serious illness.
There is a great deal of literature on the moral justification of legal rights, and the normative content of rights. These authors argue that the moral justification of a legal norm should not be self-evident or unqualified, but should be based on the good of the group as a whole, and the general welfare.