A lawyer told me once, "It doesn't matter what the Law is, the judge can decide on his own, regardless of what the Law states."
I asked, "If the law doesn't matter & you can make it up as you go along, why did you go to Law School?"

Lawyers primarily study "Precedent" now, that's studying what judges have ruled, often regardless of what's codified in Law, IOW, legislating from the bench. That makes us a nation outside the Law: Lawless. Ruled by Whim of Man, not Rule of Law.

Good with that?

It is called Maritime Law. Look it up.