Before the Law  (German: Vor dem Gesetz) is a parable contained in the novel The Trial (German: Der Prozess), by Franz Kafka. Before the Law was published in Kafka's lifetime, first in the 1915 New Year's edition of the independent Jewish weekly Selbstwehr, then in 1919 as part of the collection Ein Landarzt (A Country Doctor). The Trial, however, was not published until 1925, after Kafka's death.