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The Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior. Laws are made by governments, specifically by their legislatures. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution (written or unwritten) and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics and society in countless ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people.

A general distinction can be made between civil law jurisdictions (including Canon and Socialist law), in which the legislature or other central body codifies and consolidates their laws and common law systems (including Sharia), where judge-made binding precedents are accepted. In some countries, religion may inform the law; for example, in jurisdictions that practice Islamic law, Jewish law or Canon law.

The adjudication of the law is generally divided into two main areas. Criminal law deals with conduct that is designated dishonest by the government and in which the guilty party may be imprisioned or fined. Civil law (not to be confused with civil law jurisdictions above) deals with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the wronged litigant.

James Ruse (9 August 1759/1760 – 5 September 1837) was a Cornish farmer who, at the age of 23, was convicted of breaking and entering and was sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia. He arrived at Sydney Cove on the First Fleet with 18 months of his sentence remaining. Ruse applied to Governor Arthur Phillip (of the colony) for a land grant, stating that he had been bred to farming. Governor Phillip, desperate to make the colony self-sufficient, allocated Ruse an allotment at Rose Hill (Parramatta), where he proved himself industrious and showed that it was possible for a family to survive through farming. Having done this, Ruse received a grant of 30 acres (120,000 m²), enabling him eventually to sell 600 bushels of maize. He later exchanged the grant for more fertile land on the Hawkesbury River. In later life, having been almost bankrupted from his farm by flooding, Ruse found work as a seaman and later as a landowner's overseer.

Ruse was born at Launceston,Cornwall, England on 9 August 1760. In 1782, he was tried at Bodmin Assizes and sentenced to death for "burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling house of Thomas Olive and stealing thereout 2 silver watches, value 5 pounds." He was reprieved and sentenced to transportation for seven years. He was sent on the Scarborough, one of the First Fleet, and arrived in New South Wales on 19 January 1788.