sources of law

Salmond distinguished formal sources (from which law gets its validity, such as the will of the State) from material sources (from which it gets its content). Material sources are either legal (legislation, precedent, custom, and agreement) or historical (writings of jurists, foreign law, religious texts), the latter having no binding force by themselves.

In India the main legal sources are the Constitution, legislation, judicial precedent (Article 141), and custom (recognised by statutes such as the Hindu Marriage Act). Classical Hindu law was derived from sruti, smriti, commentaries and custom; Muslim law from the Quran, Sunna, ijma and qiyas.

Example

Of the three main sources of law, legislation is the most important today, while custom remains relevant in personal law.

See also

custom · legislation · precedent · smriti

Read more in the study notes

• Dharma and the sources of Hindu law (Family Law I - Hindu Law)
• Law-making: the legislature, the executive and the judiciary (Interpretation of Statutes and Principles of Legislation)
• Legal reasoning, the growth of law and the balance of stability and change (Judicial and Legislative Process)
• Law and public opinion (Judicial and Legislative Process)
• Legislation as a source of law: supreme and subordinate legislation, other sources, and social welfare (Judicial and Legislative Process)
• Legal realism: American and Scandinavian (Jurisprudence)