It was printed twice during Kafka's life, but is best known as an embedded narrative in the posthumously published novel The Trial (German: Der Prozess).

"Before the Law" is described as a deliberately obscure parable or allegory on legal bureaucracy and the seeking of justice, reflecting the absurdist views on the subject expressed by Kafka in The Trial.

"Before the Law" was published twice 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).

Derrida incorporates Immanuel Kant's notion of the categorical imperative as well as Freudian psychoanalysis in his reading of Kafka's fable.

[4] The post-rock band Long Distance Calling uses the spoken animated introduction sequence from the Orson Welles film adaptation of The Trial in the track "Fire in the Mountain" from their 2007 album Satellite Bay.