lagfræði

Lagfræði, literally the science or study of law, is a field of inquiry that treats law as a social institution and normative system. It aims to understand what law is, how legal norms are made, interpreted, and applied, and how they interact with politics, economy, and culture. As a broad discipline, lagfræði encompasses both legal theory and the study of legal orders in practice.

Subfields and topics include constitutional law, criminal law, civil and commercial law, administrative law, international law, and comparative law, as well as legal history, philosophy of law, and empirical legal studies. The field relies on sources such as statutes, constitutions, court decisions, treaties, and scholarly writings. Methodologies range from doctrinal and normative analysis to historical inquiry, comparative analysis, and empirical research into how laws operate in society.

Education and profession: lagfræði provides the foundation for legal education and research. In Iceland, as in many other countries, it underpins the training of lawyers, judges, civil servants, and scholars, and informs policy-making and judicial practice. The field has evolved from early theories of natural law and legal positivism to contemporary interdisciplinary approaches, incorporating philosophy, sociology, and political science to study law's role in social life.