Over time man has evolved from an uncivilized primates to a technological driven working machine, but that evolution could not have occurred without law. Law gives the backbone a society needs to flourish in a civilized and more or less positive way. Although laws in most societies are not perfect, they keep society members in check and prevent chaos from running amok. In this paper the six major roles and functions of law will be discussed including peacekeeping, checking government power, facilitating planning, promoting economic growth, promoting social justice, and finally protecting the environment. (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2004)
             Peacekeeping is the centerpiece of law through criminal and civil law branches. When people think of law they typically think of the criminal case side, which has the government as the prosecutor and another entity as the defendant. It involves the defendant being charged with breaking a "law" predefined by the controlling society. This is an important part of law, as the society must provide a safe environment for its citizens, so those found breaking accepted laws of the society must be punished accordingly. Without this process citizens would be overly concerned (quite possibly warranted) about their personal safety or the safety of their business.
             The civil section of peacekeeping is a conflict between two private citizens, whereas the citizens can be businesses or people. The citizens can use the court forum to settle disputes that they cannot overcome without intervention. Although these disputes may not be violent in context it is still a method of peacekeeping that would not be possible without law.
             Checking governmental power is a complicated yet important matter for law. Lord Acton had it right when he said, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely" and keeping that in mind a society must have checks and balances on its l
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