JORGE RODRIGUES SIMÃO

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Seldom do the words ‘law’ and ‘brevity’ occur in the same sentence. The notorious prolixity and obscurity of the law may suggest that any attempt to condense even its rudiments is an undertaking of Utopian, if not quixotic, proportions. But this is the improbable task I have undertaken in these papers: to distil the essentials of the complex phenomenon of law: its roots, its branches, its purpose, practice, institutions, and its future. My objective is to introduce the lay reader – including the prospective or novice student of law, politics, or other social sciences – to the fundamentals of law and legal systems, avoiding as much technical jargon as possible. I hope that these papers will encourage curiosity about the intriguing nature of law, and promote further reflection upon and exploration into the central role it plays in our lives.