We explain what the sources of law are and why they are so important. Its influence on jurisprudence and its classification.
What are the sources of law?
It is known as sources of the right to acts, events and traditions past that serve for the creation, modification or extinction of the legal norms, that is, of the laws. This often includes the very organs from which these laws emanate, as well as the historical participants in the constitution of law such as discipline human.
The sources of law exist because over time the notion of Justice, of law and order have varied enormously, influenced by speeches of another nature such as religion and the moral, which were the codes conduct primitive of archaic humanity. There is abundant evidence for this in ancient texts such as the Bible or the Hammurabi Code.
However, in modern times they also include international treaties, constitutions, laws and regulations, even if they are out of force, since they constitute the history of the world. Right written. The same goes for the natural law or universal, whose principles are associated with the very existence of human being.
On the one hand, the sources of law are useful in the jurisprudence, since they provide previous examples and considerable cases before make a decision (something particularly important in Anglo-Saxon law or Common law). On the other hand, they are also used from a historical perspective when thinking more theoretically or scientifically about the discipline.
Types of sources of law
The sources of law, according to the traditional consideration, are classified as:
- Material sources or sources in the material sense. These are the agencies, authorities and institutions who are empowered in some community human rights to create laws that recognize or extinguish rights, legal norms or regulations in different areas. An example of this is the Supreme Court of Justice of a nation.
- Formal sources or sources in the formal sense. It's about the documents, texts and books in which the law is formally included, or some of its segments, whether they are in force or have been repealed in favor of new ones. This also includes the very process of its elaboration and promulgation. It may be the habit, of the doctrine, international treaties, etc. For example, the legislation carried out in the parliament of a country, according to the regulations that specify its functions and capacities.
- Historical sources. These are documents inherited from the past that contain information relevant to the legal matter or laws of the time, even if it is about ancient and extinct cultures. A perfect example of this is the aforementioned Hammurabi Code, coming from the old Mesopotamia.
Other classifications of sources of law
Among the cultural sources of law is the legal past.
Other possible criteria, of a theoretical nature, on the sources of law, distinguish between:
- Political sources. Those that aspire to collective organization or institutional processes, such as political party programs, for example.
- Cultural sources. Those obtained by observing the past and the theoretical study of current law.
Or between:
- Original sources. Those who create law from nothing (ex nihilo, “Out of nowhere” in Latin), like those of revolutionary political processes.
- Derived sources. Those that are inspired by a previous legal framework.