Legal vs. Law — What's the Difference?
By Maham Liaqat & Urooj Arif — Updated on March 30, 2024
Legal refers to what's permitted or recognized by law, while law is a system of rules created and enforced through social or governmental institutions.
Difference Between Legal and Law
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Legal is an adjective describing the conformity or relation to laws. It signifies actions, documents, or situations that are in accordance with the law. Law, on the other hand, is a noun referring to the actual rules and regulations themselves, which are established by a governing body and are enforceable through penalties.
Legal considerations often involve analyzing whether actions or decisions comply with existing laws. This includes legal advice, legal representation, and legal actions, which are all based on the interpretation and application of the law. The law itself encompasses a wide range of areas, including criminal, civil, corporate, and international law, providing the framework within which legal activities occur.
While legal issues are addressed and resolved within the confines of the law, the creation, amendment, and repeal of laws are dynamic processes that reflect changes in society's values and needs. Law as an institution seeks to regulate behavior, resolve disputes, and deliver justice, whereas legal principles help individuals and entities navigate the law in specific situations.
Legal professionals, such as lawyers and judges, specialize in understanding and interpreting the law to advise clients, represent them in legal matters, and make judicial decisions. The study of law involves learning the extensive body of statutes, case law, regulations, and legal principles that constitute the legal system.
The distinction between legal and law is crucial in understanding how regulatory systems function. Legal actions must be based on the law, but the law itself is an abstract concept until it is applied in a legal context, demonstrating how these two concepts are interdependent yet distinct.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Pertaining to the law or in accordance with the law.
A system of rules created and enforced through social or governmental institutions.
Nature
Adjective describing conformity to law.
Noun referring to rules and regulations themselves.
Focus
Compliance and applicability of law.
The rules and framework governing conduct.
Practitioners
Legal professionals (e.g., lawyers, legal advisors).
Lawmakers, judges, and legal scholars.
Study
Legal studies focus on the application and implications of laws.
Law studies involve understanding the creation, interpretation, and evolution of laws.
Compare with Definitions
Legal
Pertaining to the law.
Seeking legal advice is crucial before signing complex contracts.
Law
A field of study concerned with these rules.
After graduation, he plans to go into law.
Legal
Relating to the study or practice of law.
She decided to pursue a legal career after completing her studies.
Law
An established principle or theory.
Newton's law of motion explains how objects move.
Legal
Involving the use of legal services.
They won the case with the help of their legal team.
Law
A rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority.
The new law against texting while driving has been enacted.
Legal
Allowed by law; lawful.
Their business operations are fully legal under state law.
Law
The entire body of such rules.
Students in law school spend years studying the law.
Legal
Concerned with judicial matters.
The legal proceedings were broadcast live for the public.
Law
The profession that deals with law and legal procedure.
Practicing law requires passing a rigorous bar examination.
Legal
Of, relating to, or concerned with law
Legal papers.
Law
Law is a system of rules created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and the art of justice.
Legal
Established or recognized by law
A legal right.
Law
A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority.
Legal
Authorized by law
The legal owner.
Law
The body of rules and principles governing the affairs of a community and enforced by a political authority; a legal system
International law.
Legal
Established legally other than by statute, as by a judicial opinion
A legal authority.
Law
The condition of social order and justice created by adherence to such a system
A breakdown of law and civilized behavior.
Legal
In conformity with or permitted by law
Legal business operations.
Law
A set of rules or principles dealing with a specific area of a legal system
Tax law.
Criminal law.
Legal
Recognized or enforced by law rather than by equity.
Law
A statute, ordinance, or other rule enacted by a legislature.
Legal
In terms of or created by the law
A legal offense.
Law
A judicially established legal requirement; a precedent.
Legal
Applicable to or characteristic of attorneys or their profession.
Law
The system of judicial administration giving effect to the laws of a community
All citizens are equal before the law.
Legal
Acceptable or allowable under official rules
A legal forward pass.
Law
Legal action or proceedings; litigation
Submit a dispute to law.
Legal
A person who is legally authorized to live and work in a country.
Law
An impromptu or extralegal system of justice substituted for established judicial procedure
Frontier law.
Legal
A person or department providing legal assistance.
Law
An agency or agent responsible for enforcing the law. Often used with the
"The law ... stormed out of the woods as the vessel was being relieved of her cargo" (Sid Moody).
Legal
A legal notice, especially an advertisement.
Law
(Informal) A police officer. Often used with the.
Legal
Relating to the law or to lawyers.
Legal profession
Law
The science and study of law; jurisprudence.
Legal
Having its basis in the law.
Legal precedent
Law
Knowledge of law.
Legal
Being allowed or prescribed by law.
Legal motion
Law
The profession of an attorney.
Legal
Following the rules or syntax of a system, such as a game or a programming language.
If you have no legal move, but are not in check the game is a draw.
Law
Something, such as an order or a dictum, having absolute or unquestioned authority
The commander's word was law.
Legal
(informal) Above the age of consent or the legal drinking age.
Law
A body of principles or precepts held to express the divine will, especially as revealed in the Bible.
Legal
(of paper or document layouts) Measuring 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm) (also legal-size).
Law
The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Legal
The legal department of a company.
Legal wants this in writing.
Law
A code of principles based on morality, conscience, or nature.
Legal
Paper in sheets 8½ in × 14 in (215.9 mm × 355.6 mm).
Law
A rule or custom generally established in a particular domain
The unwritten laws of good sportsmanship.
Legal
(countable) A spy who is attached to, and ostensibly employed by, an embassy, military outpost, etc.
Law
A way of life
The law of the jungle.
Legal
Somebody who immigrated lawfully.
Law
A statement describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met
The law of gravity.
Legal
Created by, permitted by, in conformity with, or relating to, law; as, a legal obligation; a legal standard or test; a legal procedure; a legal claim; a legal trade; anything is legal which the laws do not forbid.
Law
A generalization based on consistent experience or results
The law of supply and demand.
Legal
According to the law of works, as distinguished from free grace; or resting on works for salvation.
Law
(Mathematics) A general principle or rule that is assumed or that has been proven to hold between expressions.
Legal
Governed by the rules of law as distinguished from the rules of equity; as, legal estate; legal assets.
Law
A principle of organization, procedure, or technique
The laws of grammar.
The laws of visual perspective.
Legal
Established by or founded upon law or official or accepted rules
Law
(usually with "the") The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
The courts interpret the law but should not make it.
In theory, entrapment is against the law.
Legal
Of or relating to jurisprudence;
Legal loophole
Law
The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
Property law
Commercial hunting and fishing law
Legal
Having legal efficacy or force;
A sound title to the property
Law
Common law, as contrasted with equity.
Legal
Relating to or characteristic of the profession of law;
The legal profession
Law
A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way.
There is a law against importing wallabies.
A new law forbids driving on that road.
The court ruled that the executive order was not law and nullified it.
Legal
Allowed by official rules;
A legal pass receiver
Law
(more generally) A rule, such as:
Law
Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. mores.}}
"Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you" is a good law to follow.
The law of self-preservation
Law
A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
The laws of playwriting and poetry
Law
A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. theory.}}
The laws of thermodynamics
Newton's third law of motion states that to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.
This is one of several laws derived from his general theory expounded in the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
Law
A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.
Mathematical laws can be proved purely through mathematics, without scientific experimentation.
Law
Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
The law of scarcity
The law of supply and demand
Law
(linguistics) A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.
Grimm's law
Dahl's law
Law
(cricket) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
Law
The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules.
They worked to maintain law and order.
It was a territory without law, marked by violence.
Law
(informal) A person or group that act(s) with authority to uphold such rules and order (for example, one or more police officers).
Here comes the law — run!
Then the law arrived on the scene
Law
The profession that deals with such rules (as lawyers, judges, police officers, etc).
He is studying for a career in law.
She has practiced law in New York for twenty years.
Law
Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules.
She went to university to study law.
Law
Litigation; legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc).
They were quick to go to law.
Law
An allowance of distance or time (a head start) given to a weaker (human or animal) competitor in a race, to make the race more fair.
Law
(aviation) A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft.
Normal law; alternate law; direct law
Law
(fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
Law
An oath sworn before a court, especially disclaiming a debt. wager of law", "wage one's law", "perform one's law", "lose one's law".}}
Law
(obsolete) A tumulus of stones.
Law
A hill.
Law
A score; share of expense; legal charge.
Law
(obsolete) To work as a lawyer; to practice law.
Law
To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
Law
(nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern.
Law
(informal) To enforce the law.
Law
To subject to legal restrictions.
Law
(dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks.
Law
In general, a rule of being or of conduct, established by an authority able to enforce its will; a controlling regulation; the mode or order according to which an agent or a power acts.
These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made.
The law of thy God, and the law of the King.
As if they would confine the Interminable . . . Who made our laws to bind us, not himself.
His mind his kingdom, and his will his law.
Law
In morals: The will of God as the rule for the disposition and conduct of all responsible beings toward him and toward each other; a rule of living, conformable to righteousness; the rule of action as obligatory on the conscience or moral nature.
Law
The Jewish or Mosaic code, and that part of Scripture where it is written, in distinction from the gospel; hence, also, the Old Testament.
What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law . . . But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
Law
An organic rule, as a constitution or charter, establishing and defining the conditions of the existence of a state or other organized community.
Law
In philosophy and physics: A rule of being, operation, or change, so certain and constant that it is conceived of as imposed by the will of God or by some controlling authority; as, the law of gravitation; the laws of motion; the law heredity; the laws of thought; the laws of cause and effect; law of self-preservation.
Law
In mathematics: The rule according to which anything, as the change of value of a variable, or the value of the terms of a series, proceeds; mode or order of sequence.
Law
In arts, works, games, etc.: The rules of construction, or of procedure, conforming to the conditions of success; a principle, maxim; or usage; as, the laws of poetry, of architecture, of courtesy, or of whist.
Law
Collectively, the whole body of rules relating to one subject, or emanating from one source; - including usually the writings pertaining to them, and judicial proceedings under them; as, divine law; English law; Roman law; the law of real property; insurance law.
Law
Legal science; jurisprudence; the principles of equity; applied justice.
Reason is the life of the law; nay, the common law itself is nothing else but reason.
Law is beneficence acting by rule.
And sovereign Law, that state's collected willO'er thrones and globes elate,Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.
Law
Trial by the laws of the land; judicial remedy; litigation; as, to go law.
When every case in law is right.
He found law dear and left it cheap.
Law
An oath, as in the presence of a court.
Law
An exclamation of mild surprise.
Law
Legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity;
There is a law against kidnapping
Law
The collection of rules imposed by authority;
Civilization presupposes respect for the law
The great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order
Law
A generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature;
The laws of thermodynamics
Law
A rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society
Law
The learned profession that is mastered by graduate study in a law school and that is responsible for the judicial system;
He studied law at Yale
Law
The force of policemen and officers;
The law came looking for him
Law
The branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do
Common Curiosities
Can something be legal but unethical?
Yes, some actions may be legal but considered unethical by societal standards.
Why is the study of law important?
Studying law is important for maintaining order, protecting rights, and ensuring justice within society.
What is the difference between civil and criminal law?
Civil law deals with disputes between individuals or organizations, while criminal law involves actions considered harmful to society as a whole.
Is international law binding?
International law is binding for countries that agree to specific treaties, though enforcement can be challenging.
How is law created?
Law is created through legislation by governing bodies or through precedent set by court decisions.
Can laws change over time?
Yes, laws can and do change to reflect new societal values, technological advancements, and political climates.
What is the role of the judiciary in the legal system?
The judiciary interprets laws, resolves disputes, and decides on the constitutionality of laws.
What does "legal" mean in everyday language?
In everyday language, "legal" often means something is allowed by law, such as legal drinking age.
What role do lawyers play in the legal system?
Lawyers represent clients in legal matters, provide advice on legal issues, and help navigate the complexities of the law.
Why are legal documents important?
Legal documents are important for formalizing agreements, rights, and obligations in a way that is recognized and enforceable by law.
How does one become a legal professional?
Becoming a legal professional typically requires completing law school, passing a bar exam, and obtaining licensure in the jurisdiction where one intends to practice.
What is a legal precedent?
A legal precedent is a previous court decision that is considered authoritative in deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts.
How does one challenge an existing law?
Challenging an existing law typically involves legal proceedings in court or legislative processes to amend or repeal the law.
How does cultural context affect the interpretation of laws?
Cultural context can significantly influence how laws are interpreted and applied, as legal principles may vary based on societal values and norms.
Can legal actions be taken without a lawyer?
While individuals can take legal actions on their own, navigating the legal system without a professional can be complex and challenging.
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Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
