Role of Law in Society: A critical perspective

Divya Prakash

LL.M. 1st Year

Roll No. 52

Symbiosis Law School

According to Glanville Williams “Law is the cement of society and also an

essential medium of change”. It is very much in coherence of what we call
in common parlance. Nevertheless, what exactly a person who is a lawyer or
a jurist or a social scientist or a jurisprudence teacher perceives about the
role of law in society and how much it defers from thinking that of a
‘common man’. Moreover, does this entire divergence or convergence of
opinion, what we call understanding, leads to further level of it to design
future new steps? Or rather, does human intelligentsia affects the role of law
in society.

As it is evident from evolutionary past of both society and law, they evolved
greatly with times. There origin can be traced together with the start of the
civilization. They both built upon each other to evolve as a complex whole for
humanity, by humanity, of humanity and to take human kind next step
further; from Egalitarian, Agrarian, Feudalist, Industrial and Post- Industrial
societies thereby changing roles of law in several perspectives (from
naturalism to pluralism & Marxism to functionalism and so on) and in its
objects manifolds.

About the role or function of law in society it been said, it has to bring
stability (to maintain status quo) and social solidarity and order. However,
the fundamental object of any Law in society is to provide sense of security
and protection from fear from unknown situations. Other interesting aspect
of law in society is its dynamic nature. As said above, law is cement of
society bring solidarity to social institutions and structures, also this Cement
has to be use to create a new one or to mend the existing one in the light of
changing requirement. It is a mean to bring social change as well as to
preserving and strengthening institutions, which are essential need, for
society and its functionality.

The next query comes, can society foresee its upcoming need to correspond
it with suitable laws and hence bring social change?
I’ve a story to answer this, but before start, it is important to understand
what ‘so-much-talked -society’ is? Is it a gross or aggregate of people, a
community, or a neighborhood? According to McIver and Page, Society is the
arrangement of means and methods, rights and mutual co-operations,
between its members and in groups through control and liberty. It is a web of
human inter-relations. Reauter defines it as, ‘society is an abstract which
denotes a complex mutual relation between the members of a group’. A
Society consists of mutual awareness and feeling of participation.

Let us come to the story, one of my friend Prabhu is blind and he is studying
in a college in Delhi. When I went Delhi, he invited me to his hostel that was
for blind students. I was surprised to see all the blind people moving around,
stepping up and down in stairs, without ever hitting each other once. I asked
Prabhu about it, and he replied, ‘we have walking rules. We use to walk
always on our left side and use to tap if we are to cross and if there is any
other person is coming from opposite side replies with the similar tap to
make one aware’. I asked him, ‘who made these rules, Warden?’ He replied
smilingly ‘No he’s an eyed one… they are since beginning’ and we laughed.
This is what Law is doing in society and yes as society we can try to foresee
things and make laws for it (we have more environmental laws, we are
foreseeing.. a fear perhaps  ) . To conclude, law is combination of human
intelligentsia and common understanding of reason and just, in common will
of pursuance to cater the common social needs of present and future.

Thank you.