Law is the entirety of valid rules that can be effectively enforced by all parties involved. Therefore, only regulations that are respected as independently enforceable constitute law – a fundamental difference from thinking and acting according to the logic of power.

Without reliably enforceable regulations, there is a lack of legality (anomie). If regulations without general enforceability are promoted and applied as law, injustice prevails. While unequal law, such as estate-based law, has historically been understood and described as (divinely ordained) law, it loses its legal character when disadvantaged individuals cannot effectively enforce their (lesser) rights. However, even formally equal law loses its legal character if it can be manipulated, for example, through the lobbying-driven inclusion of "fine print." Beyond a purely formalistic application of law, a wise and/or empathetic application of law is necessary.

This results in the following gradation of legality:

1. Injustice and lack of rights
2. Unequal rights
3. Manipulable equal rights
4. Effectively protected equal rights
5. Objective and empathetic application of the law

Law exists in different forms (such as public law with criminal law and human rights, private law, and sectoral legal forms). All these legal forms can be comparatively classified and analyzed within the spectrum of different levels of civility.

Law is of fundamental importance in all societies with elements of civility. It can fulfill various functions, including coordination, peace and security, the preservation and development of values, freedom, legitimacy, and the control of power. The extent to which and in what forms law comes into being depends not only on a self-establishing legal discourse but also on the general level of civility. In war, even minimal legal provisions are at risk of being lost. Where power is largely absolute, law loses enormous significance, and in a situation dominated by individual self-interest, law easily becomes a pawn of the rich and powerful. Conversely, excessive legal and bureaucratic formalism can also harm the common good.

Unilateral, one-dimensional thinking struggles with the two-dimensional concept of law. Independent law has no place in the logic of friend or foe. From a power-based perspective, law can only be conceived as dominant law, in accordance with the statement attributed to Karl Marx: "The dominant law is the law of the rulers." And in self-serving thinking (such as that of Donald Trump), law is also considered an absurdity. Accordingly, unilateralists attempt to relativize, undermine, and eliminate independent law.

Further details on the civil-theoretical legal theory can be found in: