Sources of law

Law= any normative act issued by a legislative body of a state such as the Parliament following a
pre-established procedure.
There are three types of law: constitutional, organic, ordinary law.
Constitutional laws establish the organization of the political powers and regulate
fundamental civil liberties. It has to be adopted with a majority of at least two thirds of the number
of the members of the Parliament. The rules of the Constitution are invested with a superior juridical
force. The Constitution is considered to be the mirror of the economic structures of the forms of
property, of the organization of the state.
Organic laws are adopted with the absolute majority of the members who are present in
each house of Parliament. The organic laws establish the organization of the Government, the
organization of the supreme Council of Defense, of the political parties of the local administration.
The most important Ordinary Laws are the codes (civil, commercial, labor, etc.)
The term law is used in two senses:
The wide sense (lato sens). The law is any written rule properly brought into effect by an
authorized source and in this sense we include the Constitution, the codes, and regulations,
adopted by the government.
The narrow sense (strico sens). We include only the acts adopted by the Parliament.
The problem of sources of law relates to the question: Where does the judge obtain the
rules by which to decide cases?
The written law is the main source in our system (Romanian, Continental system). The Continental
system is the system of law having as source the Roman law.
The judge only interprets and applies the law. Our Civil Code provides in this matter. Judges are
prohibited from pronouncing by way of general statements on the cases which are submitted to
them. The law may therefore be applied in our system by the Courts different in identical cases.
There is a tendency for courts to follow earlier decisions even in our system, especially in higher
courts, but the courts may and sometimes do ignore the decisions of higher courts.
In our law the case law is not a formal source of law. The judge has the obligation to apply the law.
There is another source of law which is considered the most important in Anglo-Saxon system:
Juridical Precedent (jurist-prudence) - CASE LAW. The Anglo-Saxon system is applicable in all
United Kingdom and all former English colonies (Canada- Quebec, USA etc.)
In the Anglo-Saxon system the case law is the main source of law. In the Anglo-Saxon system the
judge is regarded as the one creating the law.
In the US and UK there is 2 principles applicable in this topic:
1. The principle of predictability. According to it one has to be able to predict the future
decision of the court. Knowing the former decisions in the same issue he/she may easily
anticipate the solution of the judge.

2. The principle of flexibility. The judge has to be free to make a new law. Hes not bounded
by the written law which is abstract. Whenever a new problem arises he has to solve it by
adapting the decision to the real life.
Other sources: religious sources of law (musulman).
Academic Opinion (Doctrine). It may be a handbook, an article, a study, it may also be a note
prepared about the case, by either an academic or a lawyer. These notes are particularly useful in
view of the brief and formal nature of the court judgments.