CLASSES OF

LAW
1. ETERNAL LAW is defined by St. Augustine as the Divine Reason and
Will commanding that the natural order of things be preserved and
forbidding that it be disturbed.
The Eternal Law directs all things in the universe making them tend toward
an end which is God Himself. This tendency is inscribed within their nature so
that in their movements and operations, they follow the directives of the Eternal
Law.
The Eternal Law directs everything by necessarily that is everything
necessarily follows the direction of said Law via tendency of its nature except
man in his rationality.

2. NATURAL LAW is the Eternal Law as known to man by his reason. By

the light of his understanding, man knows the natural order in the existence of
things which he recognizes as that which has to be preserved.
The natural Law provides man the general rule as known to his reason:
Bonum est faciendum et malum est vitandum “the good is to be done and evil is
to be avoided” or “do good and avoid evil.”
PROPERTIES OF NATURAL LAW
 Natural Law is obligatory. It is intrinsically inscribed
within human nature.
 Natural Law is recognizable. Man recognizes thee
natural law providing that good should be done while evil
should be avoided.
 Natural Law is immutable. By being immutable is
meant not capable of changing or unchangeable.
 Natural Law is universal. It is deeply embedded in the
nature of man, the binding force of natural law extends to all
human beings in the four corners of the world.
3. Human Positive Law it is an ordinance of reason derived from
natural law or making a concrete and determinate application of the
natural law promulgated for the common good by a human agency in
charge of a society.

• Human positive law which is duly promulgated by the supposed

competent authority must have its derivations from the fundamental
provision of the natural law. Simply because the existence of
natural law is a priori, meaning it started to exist at the very
creation of man before any human positive law was formulated and
promulgated on earth.

• A human positive law whose provisions are opposed to the higher

law like natural law is as dishonest as its author. Human positive
law, when it is truly a law, binds the conscience of its subjects, for it
is rooted in the natural law and remotely in the eternal law of god
himself.
 KINDS OF HUMAN POSITIVE
LAW
State Law (Legal/Civil Law) refers to the human positive
law enacted by the state through its legitimate body of legislature for
the temporal common good.

Church Law (Ecclesiastical Law) refers to human

positive law enacted by the church through its ecclesiastical governing
authority that is ultimately geared towards the final end of man which is
God.