Adrielle Sands

BUSL 255-03

“Classification & Sources of Law”

The word “law” is a general term and over a period of time attained different connotations to

signify different purposes, for example, a citizen may think of law as a set of rules, which he

must obey; a lawyer who ‘practices law’ may think of law as a vocation; a legislator may look at

law something created by him; a judge thinks of law as the guide and principles to be applied to

making decisions; a social scientist may think of law as a means of social control; a legal

philosopher may consider law as ‘dictate of reason’ or ‘right reasoning.’ However, when

speaking about the law of a state we use the term in a special and strict sense and in that sense,

law may be defined as, “A rule of human conduct imposed upon and enforced among the

members of a given state.”

Classification of Law

There are three different classifications that are found worldwide and their general categories

are:

1. Substantive laws vs. Procedural laws

2. Public vs. Private Law
3. Criminal vs. Civil Law
Substantive law is the substance that makes up a law. It is the meaning of a law that explains

what you can and cannot do. For example, the law states that you cannot murder another human

being unless it was in self defense, you were under intimidation, or if you were drugged by

another person. Unlike substantive of law, procedures of laws are just the steps that must take

place when filing a lawsuit against another party.

Public law is the law that determines and regulates the organization and functioning of the State,

which simply means that the government is involved. Public law is any law that has to do with

the constitution and the public. This type of law normally involves a criminal suit were the

government is prosecuting a citizen for a crime they allegedly committed. The following laws

form part of the public law:

1. Constitutional law – It is the basic and fundamental law of the land, which determines the
nature of the State and the structure of the Government. It may be written (as in India,
USA and most other countries) or unwritten (as in England).
2. Administrative law – It is the law, which deals with the structure, functions and powers
of the organs of the Government.
3. Criminal law – It deals with various offences, and has for its object their prevention by
providing for and prescribing certain punishments for them.
Private laws are laws that do not involve the government, and are laws that allow one private

entity to sue another private entity in a civil lawsuit. In this sense, the State through its judicial

organs passes judgment to the matters in dispute between them. Private law comprises the

following fields.

1. Personal laws - It is a special law applicable to a class of people.

2. Law of property – It is law relating to transfer of (immovable) property.
3. Law of obligations – It is law relating to Contract; Quasi contract and Torts

Criminal law was created to protect the public from the government or from themselves.

Criminal laws were created so that the government could not prosecute individuals without due

process and so that the public could protect themselves from each other. Civil law are cases

where one or both parties are looking for compensation instead of jail time. Civil law covers

anything that criminal law does not cover in the court system.
 Sources of Law

Source means ‘origin’ which something is ultimately derived and often refers to the causes

operating before the thing itself comes into being. Legal experts vary widely to the source of

law. Sources of law may be classified into Formal & Non-formal and Historical & Legal.

Formal sources are the sources from which the law derives its force and validity. Of course, the

only authority from which laws can spring and derive force and validity is State. While non-

formal sources refer to the various processes, which result in the evolution of the materials,

which are the elements of law. Historical sources are those sources lacking formal recognition by

law. The legal sources of law are authoritative and are allowed by the law courts as of right. The

historical sources of law are un-authoritative. They influence more or less extensively the course

of legal development, but they speak with no authority. All rules of law have historical sources

but not all of them have legal sources.

Some formal sources of law include:

1. Precedents – a legal case establishing a principle or rule that a court or other
judicial body may utilize when deciding later cases with similar issues or
facts.
2. Legislation – that source of law, which consists in the declaration of legal
rules by an authority duly empowered by the Constitution in that behalf.
3. Treaties – an agreement entered into by countries, nations, or other legal
persons recognized in international law.
While a few of the non-formal sources include:
1. Custom – can be described as the established patterns of behavior that can be
objectively verified within a particular social setting.
2. Equity – natural justice