Freedom and the Law is the most important book written by Italian jurist and philosopher Bruno Leoni

Bruno Leoni

Bruno Leoni was an Italian classical-liberal political philosopher and lawyer.Besides being editor for the political science journal Il Politico, Leoni was also involved as secretary and later president of the Mont Pelerin Society...

. It was first published in 1961 and the 3rd edition is now made widely available through the Internet by the Online Library of Liberty http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=920, with permission of the George Mason University

George Mason University

George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

.

In this book, Leoni contended that the greatest obstacle to the Rule of Law

Rule of law

The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...

 is the problem of overlegislation. Leoni also pointed to a parallelism between the market and common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 on the one hand, and socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 and legislation

Legislation

Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...

 on the other.

Through a review of Roman doctrine and jurisprudence

Roman law

Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...

, Leoni shows that the Romans thought of Law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 as a process of discovery instead as of a set of enacted orders, and that the popular confusion between law and legislation

Legislation

Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...

is contemporary to our era and the advent of socialism.

Table of contents

Freedom and the Law

Introduction

Chapter 1.: Which Freedom?

Chapter 2.: "freedom" and "constraint"

Chapter 3.: Freedom and the Rule of Law

Chapter 4.: Freedom and the Certainty of the Law

Chapter 5.: Freedom and Legislation

Chapter 6.: Freedom and Representation

Chapter 7.: Freedom and the Common Will

Chapter 8.: Some Difficulties Analyzed

Conclusion

The Law and Politics

Introduction

Chapter 1.: The Law As Individual Claim

Chapter 2.: Law and Economy In the Making

Chapter 3.: The Economic Approach to the Political

Chapter 4.: Voting Versus the Market