Over the many years of man’s existence, he has constantly evolved to better fit and survive in his surroundings. There are many aspects to his evolution that can be seen through his actions, his thoughts and his beliefs, to name a few. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines anthropology as the science of human beings. The focus on this paper will be the anthropological aspect dealing with the nature of human beings. The nature of human beings can be seen in many aspects of his being. One of these aspects is his laws and courts. The legal system directly reflects the way that man thinks, as the guilty are viewed as being wrong, while the innocent are viewed as being right. There are blatant representations of society’s evolution in the law courts, and at the same time there are subtle indications as well. All this and more show how the legal system indicates the direction that man has traveled in his evolution.Every society has a set of rules and regulations, or laws that govern a society and control the behavior of its members . A society without laws dealing with crimes there is anarchy and war. The law courts avoid this state of society by resolving arising disputes in a civilized manner. Governments are kept in check by laws that limit the amount of power that any governing body has, and therefore instills freedom in the society’s citizens. Laws can improve the quality of life of the people by increasing the effort put into the health, education and welfare of the people. Laws hold different levels of importance and therefore have different implications according to each society. A law that is found in China will have a different role than one that is found in Western nations1. In China the use of a law is the last resort, as all other means of resolution are employed before the courts. As society evolves, so does law. In earlier times, if someone was to commit murder, then the victim’s family would be perm...
