The Anabaptists (Amish, Hutterites and Mennonites) are constituted by many different religious groups that maintained similar beliefs and practices, keeping, for example, sensibly the same conception of law and the same prescriptions about launching lawsuits. Some of these communities, among the most conservative ones, enforce a kind of internal law based on excommunication and shunning, while strictly forbidding their members to call on civil courts. Therefore, a clear distinction exists in Anabaptist groups between the internal law (Gemeinschaftrecht) and the external law (Gesellschaftrecht). Although, in many situations, the internal law of Anabaptist communities has been insufficient to settle disputes and recourse to external law has been necessary. In other situations, Anabaptist communities also appealed to civil courts to claim a respect of their religious liberty. In this article, some of these situations will be taken into account to show how the internal law of Anabaptist communities is related to the external law. To explore this problematic, the sociology of Ferdinand Tönnies will be firstly presented as a mean of theorizing the notions of community and society. After, the judicial culture of Anabaptist groups will be considered. Then, some judicial cases related to excommunication and shunning will be taken into account, showing how the internal law of the Anabaptist communities comes in contact with the external law. Finally, a discussion will elaborate on how the notions of community and society found their application in relation with the rights of the Anabaptists.