ABSTRACT
Most countries in the world have established rules and codes that govern the behaviour of the population within that country. By and large, the rules have been established over many hundreds of years and are generally accepted because they are for the mutual benefit of the population – they are the framework which prevents anarchy. Whereas there are some fundamental rules (for instance concerning the casual taking of life) that are to be found in every country, there are also considerable variations from country to country in many of the other codes or rules. The laws of a country are usually established by an elected political institution, the population accepts them and they are enforced by the imposition of penalties on those who are found guilty of breaking them.
