Twin laws are symmetry operations that define the orientation between twin crystal segments. These are as characteristic of the mineral as are its crystal face angles. For example, crystals of staurolite show twinning at angles of almost precisely 90 degrees or 30 degrees. A twin law is not a symmetry operation of the full set of basis points.
Twin laws include reflection operations, rotation operations, and the inversion operation. Reflection twinning is described by the Miller indices of the twin plane (i.e. {hkl}) while rotational twinning is described by the direction of the twin axis (i.e. <hkl>). Inversion twinning is typically equivalent to a reflection or rotation symmetry.
Rotational twin laws are almost always 2-fold rotations, though any other permitted rotation symmetry (3-fold, 4-fold, 5-fold or 6-fold) is possible.  The twin axis will be perpendicular to a lattice plane. It is possible for a rotational twin law to share the same axis as a rotational symmetry of the individual crystal if the twin law is a 2-fold rotation and the symmetry operation is a 3-fold rotation. This is the case for spinel law twinning on <111>: The spinel structure has a 3-fold rotational symmetry on <111> and spinel is commonly twinned by 2-fold rotation on <111>.
The boundary between crystal segments is called a composition surface or, if it is planar, a composition plane. The composition plane is often, though not always, parallel to the twin law plane of a reflection law. If this is the case, the twin plane is always parallel to a possible crystal face.