Sources of Law

The unique characteristic of American law is that a very substantial part of it is not to be found in statutes enacted by legislatures but rather in cases decided by the courts. This concept of decided cases as a source of law comes to the USA from England. As a matter of fact, the US legal system is patterned after the English legal system rather than that of the rest of Europe or any other part of the world.

The continental countries have codified their laws — reduced them to statutes — so that the main source of law in those countries is to be found in the statutes rather than in the cases.

In the USA statutes must be in keeping with the constitutions - federal and state - and the courts can overrule a statute that is found to violate constitutional provisions. Statutes and constitutions are classified as "written law". Also included under this heading are treaties that by the federal constitution are also a part of the law of the land.

Case law, as opposed to written law, is not set forth formally but is derived from an analysis of each case that uncovers what legal propositions the case stands for. It is nor proper to call this "unwritten" law because it is in fact in writing. However, it must be distinguished from statutory law in that it is not the product of the legislature but is rather the product of the courts. When a court decides a case, particularly upon an appeal from a lower-court decision, the court writes an opinion setting forth among other things the reasons for its decision. From these written opinions rules of law can be deduced, and these make up the body of what is called case law or common law. The basic characteristic of the common law is that a case once decided establishes a precedent that will be followed by the courts when similar controversies are later presented.

A third source of law is administrative law. Federal, state, and local administrative agencies make law by promulgating rules and regulations as well as by making decisions concerning matters under their jurisdiction.

In summary, in the USA law comes from written laws such as constitutions, statutes, ordinances and treaties; from case law, which is based on judicial decisions; and from the rules and decisions of administrative agencies.

The Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the various states are the fundamental written law in this country. A federal law must not violate the U.S. Constitution. All state laws must conform to or be in harmony with the federal Constitution as well as with the constitution of the state.

There are two very important principles of constitutional law that are basic to the US judicial system. They are closely related to each other and are known as the doctrine of separation of powers and the doctrine of judicial review.

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