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Preferred term

customary law  

Definition

  • The term customary law commonly refers to law that a legal authority has created in order to support a particular custom, because of that custom's antiquity and a popular belief that such a law is necessary. Customary law is virtually always introduced through a judicial decision in which the custom has relevance and is therefore distinguished from positive law, which has as its source legislation or some other form of proclamation or edict. [Source: Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment; Customary Law]

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URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/customary_law

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