Every now and then we read about the old laws of the land and the new laws emerging. For eons, our country has been coming up with laws. Even before these laws were codified, there were some basic laws that the people were bound to follow. Have you ever thought as to what may be the sources of law?
The answer to this question and many more related ones can be found in a subject of law known as “Jurisprudence”. The term “Jurisprudence” is actually derived from the Latin word “jurisprudentia”. This Latin term literally means the knowledge or science of law. While the other disciplines or subjects of law deal with the law in its codified form, Jurisprudence as a subject talks about the science and philosophies of law.
While jurisprudence is an extremely vast area of study, it also talks about the sources of law. Let’s delve deeper into the topic a bit.
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Sources Of Law
There is no one source of law; instead, there are many sources of laws in a society. Some laws make their way into the Constitution of that society, while others are passed by the parliament. Some other laws hail from social traditions.
The primary sources of law are:
- Legislation
- Customs
- Judicial Precedents
Let us pick each one of these sources of law, one by one.
Legislation
Legislation is an important source of law. The term legislation is actually derived from the Latin words legis and latum which mean “law” and “to make” respectively. Therefore, in simple terms, the term legislation means “making of a law”.
Notable jurist Salmond defined legislation as that source of law that contains the declaration of legal rules via a competent authority.
Customs
The second important source of law is customs. It refers to any established mode of social behavior in a community. There are myriad dimensions of human behavior that get assented by society to become customs.
Judicial Precedents
In every legal system around the globe, the judges take reference and guidance from decisions taken in the past if they fit well with the case at hand. Such decisions are compiled in reports and are called judicial precedents.
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Source: HIS Education