The Law College Admission Council

The small Greek city-state, historical Athens, from about the 8th century BC was the first society to be based on broad inclusion of its citizenry, excluding ladies and the slave class. However, Athens had no authorized science or single word for “law”, relying instead on the three-way distinction between divine law (thémis), human decree and customized (díkē). Yet Ancient Greek law contained major constitutional innovations within the development of democracy. In 1934, the Austrian philosopher Hans Kelsen continued the positivist custom in his e-book the Pure Theory of Law. Kelsen believed that though law is separate from morality, it is endowed with “normativity”, meaning we must obey it. While legal guidelines are constructive “is” statements (e.g. the fine for reversing on a highway is €500); law tells us what we “ought to” do.

Once accredited, a lawyer will usually work in a law agency, in a chambers as a sole …