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Research draft

sources of law

vr.tr.sources-of-law · INF.KNW

Let an agent explain the sources of law in a given legal system and their hierarchy, help people find authoritative legal texts, and support legal research without giving legal advice.

Thing Registry Information and virtual systems

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent explain the sources of law in a given legal system and their hierarchy, help people find authoritative legal texts, and support legal research without giving legal advice.

The origins from which binding legal rules derive in a legal system, such as constitutions, legislation and statutes, delegated regulation, case law and precedent, custom, treaties and, in some systems, scholarly writing and religious law; the hierarchy and recognition of sources vary between civil law, common law and other traditions, and official gazettes publish them.

What it is for: Identifying where law comes from and how to find it.

It can be explain the hierarchy of sources in a system; find official texts and gazettes; explain the role of case law and custom; support legal research.

Distinguishing features

Origin of binding rules

Hierarchical

System-dependent

Officially published

What it looks like

Not physical; texts in gazettes, codes and law reports.

How it is recognised

Constitutions, statutes and regulations

Court decisions and reports

Commentary is secondary, not a source of law in most systems

Related models

is a kind of - category

information

is a kind of - category

source entity

is applied by - institution

court

is related to - legal concepts

necessity

In practice

Families and kinds

constitutions

primary legislation

secondary and delegated legislation

case law and precedent

custom, treaties and international law

Standards and regulation

Constitutional rules on hierarchy of norms

Official gazette publication laws

Citation standards for legal sources

Failure modes and hazards

Relying on unofficial or outdated texts

Confusing systems

Agents giving legal advice

Also called

legislative historyOfficial Gazette of the Republic of TurkeyRoyal Decree-LawGovernment Regulation of the Republic of Indonesiaban of involuntary servitudePublic General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdomcase lawmoresLex Iulia et Papiasources of international lawsources of shariabasic lawlegal practiceAmedeo Natoli Insurance and ReinsuranceAustralian constitutional lawlegal actGenesis 2:25Acórdão de RelaçãoDecisãocase law of the Court of Justice of the European Uniontapuinheritance normharmful cultural practicesadd al-zarainasspatent waivinglicensingLaw of Provincesaward documentdecree of the United Transitional CabinetConstitution of Kosovo (1974)circularConstitutional Treaty between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the President of Ukraine dated June 8, 1995Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of UkraineGDPR finedecree of the Head of the Kharkov Military-Civilian AdministrationResolution of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet On ratification of the Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent Stateslaw provisionsuspension of pre-trial detentionroyal permit

+9

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Source repository Registry entry point

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Hierarchy Which source prevails.

Systems differ.

Order

Hierarchy of norms.

Order

Hierarchy.

  1. What is the hierarchy of legal sources in this system, and which prevails in conflict? provenance
  2. How do treaties and EU or federal law fit in? provenance

Tradition

Civil and common law.

Tradition

Traditions.

  1. How do civil law and common law systems differ in their sources? definition
  2. What role do custom and religious law play here? provenance
Find Locating texts.

Official sources.

Official

Gazettes and databases.

Official

Official texts.

  1. Where is the authoritative text of this law published, such as an official gazette or legislation database? provenance
  2. Is the version consolidated and current? boundary

Cases

Case law.

Cases

Case law.

  1. Where are court decisions reported, and which are binding? provenance
  2. How is precedent applied here? provenance
Interpret Using sources.

Research skills.

History

Legislative history.

History

Legislative history.

  1. How can the legislative history of this law be traced? action
  2. Is it used in interpretation here? provenance

Cite

Citation.

Cite

Citation.

  1. How should this source be cited? action
  2. Which citation standard applies? provenance
Limits Advice boundaries.

Information, not advice.

Advice

Legal advice.

Advice

Legal advice.

  1. Is the user asking how the law applies to their own situation? boundary
  2. Where can they get regulated legal advice? provenance

Change

Keeping current.

Change

Keeping current.

  1. Has this law been amended or repealed? provenance
  2. How can changes be monitored? action

What the second pass must settle

  • Should each source type be a separate entry?
  • How should official gazettes be linked?
  • How should system differences be recorded?
Draft as JSON