SOURCES OF LAW
SOURCES OF LAW
Sources of Law
(Salmond)
Formal Material
Legal
Historical
Sources of Indian Law
Custom
Legal
Local
General
Conventional
Precedent
Binding
Persuasive
Legislation
Primary
Legislation
Secondary
Legislation
REQUISITES OF VALID
CUSTOM
1. Antiquity: Custom must be in existence from
time immemorial
2. Continuity: Should have been continuously
in existence from the time immemorial
 Example - Saptapadi
REQUISITES OF VALID
CUSTOM…
3. Reasonable: It must be useful and
convenient to the society.
4. Certainty: If a custom is vague or ambiguous
it cannot be considered as a valid source of
law.
5. Consistency: Difference or inconsistency in
custom will amount to different rule of
conduct for a given situation
6. Peaceful Enjoyment: enjoyed peaceably
without any dispute in a law court or
otherwise
REQUISITES OF VALID
CUSTOM…
7. Conformity with statute law: All customs which
are opposed to an existing legislation will be
treated as invalid customs
 For example, jalli-kattu,
a customary sport of tamil nadu
banned by the supreme court
because it is not in conformity
with constitution
8. Not opposed public morality: All those
customs and practices which are opposed to
public morality are illegal
Requisites
of Valid
Custom
Antiquity
Continuity
Reasonable
Certainty
Consistency
Peaceful
Enjoyment
Conformity
with statute
Not
opposed to
public
morality
KINDS OF PRECEDENTS
Precedents
Original
precedents which
create law
Declaratory
Precedents
precedents which
merely apply
established rules
of law to the
particular facts of
the cases
Authoritative
Precedents
All inferior courts
shall follow the
decision of
superior courts
Persuasive
Precedents
no obligation to
follow but may
take precedence
into consideration
REASONS FOR CONSIDERING
PRECEDENT AS A SOURCE
Reasonsfor
ConsideringPrecedent
asaSource
Final settlement of an Issue
Bring certainty
Bring flexibility to law
Open scope for Judge made law
Bring scientific development to law
Helps in guiding lower courts
LEGISLATION
 Word legislation is derived from two Latin
words, ‘legis’ and ‘latum’. The former means
law and the latter means to make
CLASSIFICATION OF
LEGISLATION
Supreme
• Adopted by supreme
authority of the state
• Eg. Parliament or
State Legislature
Subordina
te
• Dependent for its
continued existence
and validity on some
superior or supreme
authority
• Eg. Delegated
Legislation
Classification
of Legislation
THANK YOU

Sources of Law

  • 1.
  • 2.
    SOURCES OF LAW Sourcesof Law (Salmond) Formal Material Legal Historical
  • 3.
    Sources of IndianLaw Custom Legal Local General Conventional Precedent Binding Persuasive Legislation Primary Legislation Secondary Legislation
  • 4.
    REQUISITES OF VALID CUSTOM 1.Antiquity: Custom must be in existence from time immemorial 2. Continuity: Should have been continuously in existence from the time immemorial  Example - Saptapadi
  • 5.
    REQUISITES OF VALID CUSTOM… 3.Reasonable: It must be useful and convenient to the society. 4. Certainty: If a custom is vague or ambiguous it cannot be considered as a valid source of law. 5. Consistency: Difference or inconsistency in custom will amount to different rule of conduct for a given situation 6. Peaceful Enjoyment: enjoyed peaceably without any dispute in a law court or otherwise
  • 6.
    REQUISITES OF VALID CUSTOM… 7.Conformity with statute law: All customs which are opposed to an existing legislation will be treated as invalid customs  For example, jalli-kattu, a customary sport of tamil nadu banned by the supreme court because it is not in conformity with constitution 8. Not opposed public morality: All those customs and practices which are opposed to public morality are illegal
  • 7.
  • 8.
    KINDS OF PRECEDENTS Precedents Original precedentswhich create law Declaratory Precedents precedents which merely apply established rules of law to the particular facts of the cases Authoritative Precedents All inferior courts shall follow the decision of superior courts Persuasive Precedents no obligation to follow but may take precedence into consideration
  • 9.
    REASONS FOR CONSIDERING PRECEDENTAS A SOURCE Reasonsfor ConsideringPrecedent asaSource Final settlement of an Issue Bring certainty Bring flexibility to law Open scope for Judge made law Bring scientific development to law Helps in guiding lower courts
  • 10.
    LEGISLATION  Word legislationis derived from two Latin words, ‘legis’ and ‘latum’. The former means law and the latter means to make
  • 11.
    CLASSIFICATION OF LEGISLATION Supreme • Adoptedby supreme authority of the state • Eg. Parliament or State Legislature Subordina te • Dependent for its continued existence and validity on some superior or supreme authority • Eg. Delegated Legislation Classification of Legislation
  • 12.