 Which source of law do you think most important?

Describe the source of law and compare

these with the source which you think most important.

Ans: The expression sources of law has several meanings and is a frequent cause of error unless we
scrutinize carefully the particular meaning given to it in any particular text.

The determination of the source of law depends upon the particular definition of law, which the
society adopts. If law is regarded s being created by will of the state, then that is the formal
source of law. If law is the command if the sovereign, then the sovereign is the formal source.
On the other hand, of law is valid because it is embodiment of natural law or absolute justice,
then the source of law is the ideal which we have laid down. If, according to the historical
school, law is the product of the inner sense of right, then the senses of right are the source law.
If law is valid because it is the product of custom, then the habits of the peoples re the source of
law. The philosophical school treats, under the heading of the sources of law, some if the deepest
problems of legal philosophy. Thus, Gur itch says that the question of the sources of law on only
one aspect of the general study of the validity of law. Sources of law matter. They serve to
separate the province of law from the realm of non-law.
Only propositions that are derived from a valid source of law are genuinely legal propositions.
Other commands and prohibitions, be they of a religious, moral, or other nature, may
determine our daily lives to a much greater extent.Nevertheless,they are not legal commands
and prohibitions, with all the consequences this entails for their use (or non-use) in the legal
process and in other spheres of public discourse. Adultery, for instance, may be
prohibitedby a statute or by a religious text. It may also be habitually sanctioned by the members
of
a particular social group. Your neighbour may find it offensive. Sociologists and political
scientists may point to the fact that it has subversive and detrimental effects on families and
on society as a whole. However, whether adultery is a legal issue depends upon whether we
accord statutes, religious texts, group practices, your neighbour’s personal opinions, or the
views of social scientists the status of ‘sources of law’ or not.
Questions as to sources of law are inextricably linked with questions of legal method.
Whether a source of law is successful in producing a particular result, indeed, whether it
makes any impact at all, depends to a great extent on the way it is applied and interpreted.
In a given legal system, the law does not simply consist of the raw legal sources. The law in
force is the product of their refinement by the competent authorities applying and interpreting
them. Law without interpretation, as Frederick Pollock said, ‘is but a skeleton without
life, and interpretation makes it a living body’.1 Take, for example, the sentence: ‘Congress
shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech’. This is most certainly a legal proposition
since the United States Constitution and its amendments are regarded as sources of
law in the United States. However, the actual content of the rights conferred and the duties
imposed by the First Amendment depends on what the relevant interpretative authorities,
ultimately the US Supreme Court, understand by,say, ‘abridging’, ‘freedom’, ‘speech’,
There are various source of law. If we want to determine the most important source of law then its quite
hard. At first we will find the sources of law. There are two main source of law .They are:
(1) Legal source of law
(2) Historical source of law

Legal Source of law: Legal sources of law are which are enacted by legal research vocabulary
are the texts of enactments by governments containing rules that govern a state jurisdiction.

Each branch of government, both at the federal and provincial level, produces law. Understanding the
overall landscape of the legal sources, it is helpful before beginning research of one source or one area
of lawThe power of making all laws is in the people or -- their representatives, and none can have any
force whatever, which is derived from any other source. But it is not required that the legislator shall
expressly pass upon all laws, and give the sanction of his seal, before they can have life or existence.
The laws are therefore such as have received ala express sanction, and such as derive their force and
effect from implication. The first, or express, are the constitution of the United States, and the treaties
and acts of the legislature which have been made by virtue of the authority vested by the constitution. To
these must be added the constitution of the state and the laws made by the state legislature, or by other
subordinate legislative bodies, by virtue of the authority conveyed by such constitution. The latter, or
tacit, received their effect by the general use of them by the people, when they assume the name of
customs by the adoption of rules by the courts from systems of foreign laws. The express laws, are first,
the constitution of the United States; secondly, the treaties made with foreign powers; thirdly, the acts of
congress; fourthly, the constitutions of the respective states; fifthly, the laws made by the several state
legislatures; sixthly, laws made by inferior legislative bodies, such as the councils of municipal
corporations, and general rules made by the courts. The constitution is an act of the people themselves,
made by their representatives elected for that purpose. It is the supreme law of the land, and is binding
on all future legislative bodies, until it shall be altered by tho authority of the people, in the manner,
provided for in the instrument itself, and if an act be passed contrary to the provisions of the
constitution, it is, ipso facto, void
In civil law systems, the sources of law include the legal codes, such as the civil code or the
criminal code, and custom;[note 2] in common law systems there are also several sources that
combine to form “the law”. Civil law systems often absorb ideas from the common law[note 3]
and vice-versa. Scotland, for instance, has a hybrid form of law, as does South Africa, whose law
in an amalgam of common law, civil law and tribal law.

A state may comply with international law, it may have a written or federal constitution, or it
may have regional legislature, but normally it is the central national legislature that is the
ultimate source of law. While a written constitution may seem to be the prime source of law, the
state legislature may amend its constitution provided certain rules are followed. International law
may take precedence over national law, but international law is mainly made up of conventions
and treaties that have been ratified; and anything that can be ratified may be denounced later by
the national parliament.[note 4] Although local authorities may feel that they have a democratic
 mandate to pass bye-laws,the legislative power they wield has been delegated by parliament; and
what parliament gives, parliament make later take away.

In England, the archetypal common law country, there is a hierarchy of sources, as follows:

 Legislation (primary and secondary)

 The case law rules of common law and equity
 Parliamentary conventions
 General customs
 Books of authority.

Legislation

Legislation is the prime source of law. and consists in the declaration of legal rules by a
competent authority. Legislation can have many purposes: to regulate, to authorize, to enable, to
proscribe, to provide funds, to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict. A parliamentary
legislature frames new laws, such as Acts of Parliament, and amends or repeals old laws. The
legislature may delegate law-making powers to lower bodies. In the UK, such delegated
legislation includes Statutory Instruments, Orders in Council, & Bye-laws. Delegated legislation
may be open to challenge for irregularity of process; and the legislature usually has the right to
withdraw delegated powers if it sees fit.

Most legislatures have their powers restricted by the nation's Constitution, and Montesquieu's
theory of the separation of powers typically restricts a legislature's powers to legislation.[7]
Although the legislature has the power to legislate, it is the courts who have the power to
interpret statutes, treaties and regulations. Similarly, although parliaments have the power to
legislate, it is usually the executive[8][9] who decides on the legislative programmed. The
procedure is usually that a bill is introduced to Parliament, and after the required number of
readings, committee stages and amendments, the bill gains approval[10] and becomes an Act.

Case Law

Judicial precedent (aka: case law, or judge-made law) is based on the doctrine of stare decisive,
and mostly associated with jurisdictions based on the English common law, but the concept has
been adopted in part by Civil Law systems. Precedent is the accumulated principles of law
derived from centuries of decisions. Judgements passed by judges in important cases are
recorded and become significant source of law. When there is no legislature on a particular point
which arises in changing conditions, the judges depend on their own sense of right and wrong
and decide the disputes from first principles. Authoritative precedent decisions become a guide
in subsequent cases of a similar nature. The dictionary of English law defines a judicial
precedent as a judgement or decision of a court of law cited as an authority for deciding a similar
state of fact in the same manner or on the same principle or by analogy. Another definition[11]
 declares precedent to be," a decision in a court of justice cited in support of a proposition for
which it is desired to contend".

Compared to other sources of law, precedent has the advantage of flexibility and adaptability,
and may enable a judge to apply "justice" rather than "the law".

Equity (England only)

Equity is a source of law peculiar to England and Wales. Equity is the case law developed by the
(now defunct) Court of Chancery. Equity prevails over common law, but its application is
discretionary. Equity's main achievements are: trusts, charities, probate, & equitable remedies.
There are a number of equitable maxims, such as: “He who comes to equity must come with
clean hands”.

Parliamentary Conventions (UK mainly)

(not to be confused with International Conventions)

Parliamentary Conventions are not strict rules of law, but their breach may lead to breach of law.
They typically are found within the English legal system, and they help compensate for the UK's
lack of a single written constitution. Typically, parliamentary conventions govern relationships,
such as that between the House of Lords and the House of Commons; between the monarch and
Parliament; and between Britain and its colonies. For instance, after the Finance Act 1909, the
House of Lords lost its power to obstruct the passage of bills, and now may only delay them. The
prerogative powers are subject to convention, and in 2010, the monarch's power to dissolve
Parliament was abolished. Britain's tradition with its colonies is that they are self-governing
(although, historically, rarely with universal suffrage), and that the mother-country should stay
aloof.

Customs (England & Commonwealth Nations)

A "General Custom" as a source of law is not normally written, but if a practice can be shown to
have existed for a very long time, such as "since time immemorial it becomes a source of law.

A "Particular Custom" (or "private custom") may arise and become a right with the force of law
when a person, or a group of persons has from long usage obtained a recognized usage, such as
an easement.

Books of Authority (England mainly)

Up until the 20th century, English judges felt able to examine certain "books of authority" for guidance,
and both Coke and Blackstone were frequently cited. This old practice of citing only authors who are
dead has gone; nowadays notable legal authors may be cited, even if they are still alive.
Historical Source of law: Custom is a habitual course of conduct observed uniformly and
voluntarily by thepeople. Custom occupies an important place in regulation of human conduct in
almostall the societies. In fact, it is one of the oldest sources of law-making. But with progress
of the society custom gradually diminish and legislation and judicial precedents
become the main source. Custom is created by the people, by their unconscious
adoption of a certain rule of conduct whenever the same problem arises for solution
and its authority is based on nothing but its long continued use and recognition by the
people. Custom is some kind of special rule which is followed from time immemorial.
Law based on custom is known as customary law. Custom, as a source of law, involves
the study of a number of its aspects: its origin and nature, its importance, reasons for its
recognition, its classification, its various theories, its distinction with prescription and
usage, and the essentials of a valid customThe word ‘custom’ is derived from an old French
word ‘Costume’. Some says that the
word ‘custom’ is based on Latin word ‘Consuetude’, some says that the word ‘Custom’ is
derived from the word ‘Conspectus’, while others say that it is the part participate of word
‘Consuescere’ which means ‘ accustom’. Some says that it is derived from two words ‘con’
means,‘expressing intensive force’and ‘suescere’ means ‘become accustomed’. In Hindi the
word ‘custom’ means ‘reeti’,‘vyavahar’,‘rams’, or ‘riwajThe word ‘custom’ literally,
grammatically, or ordinarily means; tradition, practice; usage;
observance; way; convention; procedure; ceremony; ritual; ordinance; form; formality;
fashion; mode; manner; shibboleth; unwritten rule; way of doing things; formal; praxis;
, style; etiquette; routine; habit; usual; rite; Solemn; unwritten code; conventional social
behaviour; etc.
The word ‘custom’ generally means the following:
It means a usage or practice common to many or to particular place or class or
habitual with an individual.
 It is long established practice considered as unwritten law.
 It means repeated practice.
 It is the whole body of usages, practices, or conventions that regulate social life.
 It means frequent repetition of the same act; way of acting commonto many;
ordinary manner; habitual practice; usage; method of doing or living.
 It means a long established practice, considered as unwritten law, and resting for
authority on long consent, usage, and prescription.
 It means familiar acquaintance or familiarity.
 It means to make familiar or to accustom.
 It is a tradition passing on from one generation to another.
 It means a usual, habitual practice, or typical mode of behaviour.
 It means long established habits or traditions of a society.
 It is a long established collectively habit of a society.
 It is a long established convention of a society.
 It means established way of doing things.
  It is a specific practice of long standing.
 It is a traditional and widely accepted way of behaving or doing something that is
 How important administration of justice and punishment are to make effective the law of
the state? Describe your opinion.

Administration means management and justice means to right and equitable implication. By the
administration of justice is meant the maintenance of right with in a political community by means
of the physical force of the state. For sound administration of justice, physical force of the state is
prime requirement. There are two essential functions of every State: 1. War, 2. Administration of
JusticeAccording to Salmond, a state with reference to its territory as a society of men established
for the maintenance of order and justice within a determined territory by way of force. State
maintain law and order and establish peace and social security. If state failed to maintain the law and
order it can’t be called state. The main function of the administration of justice is the protection
of individuals' rights, enforcement of laws and punishment of criminals.

A man by nature is a fighting animal and is moved by his own interest and passions. So without a
common power to keep him right on track in the society, it is very difficult for individuals to live
peacefully in a society. A society where the state power is never called into actual exercise, it is very
difficult to attain the civilization in the society.

It is the social nature of men that inspires him to live in a community. This social nature of men
demands that he must reside in a society. However, living in a society leads to conflict of interests
and gives rise to the need for Administration of Justice. they involved their elders to settle disputes
among them. There we see developments of minds, starts from natural society to developed and
civilized society this is considered to be the historical basis for the growth of administration of
justice.

Once the need for Administration of Justice was recognized, the State came into being. Initially, the
so called State was not strong enough to regulate crime and impart punishment to the criminals. But
at present it is operated by Magistrates and Judges assigned with the same nature of job.

According to Hobbes “that a common power is necessary to keep people with in control in the
community. He says, unless man is under “a common power to keep them all

Administration of justice brings uniformity and consistency in the law and it causes a systematic
development of law.

# The Rules of law represent the collective wisdom of community therefore, in following them there
are little chances of going wrong. Sir Edward Coke said that the wisdom of law is wiser than any
man’s wisdom and Justice represents wisdom of the community.

# As the rules are fixed, it helps judge in applying the law uniformly.
# As the law is known to the citizen, it enables them to regulate their conduct i n accordance
with it.