All legal systems deal with the same basic issues,
but each country categorises and identifies its legal subjects in
different ways. A common distinction is that between "public
law" (a term related closely to the state, and including
constitutional, administrative and criminal law), and "private
law" (which covers contract, tort and property).[8] In civil
law systems, contract and tort fall under a general law of obligations, while trusts law is dealt
with under statutory regimes or international conventions. International,
constitutional and administrative law, criminal law, contract, tort,
property law and trusts are regarded as the "traditional core
subjects",[9] although
there are many further disciplines which may be of greater
practical importance.
In law,
custom can be described as the established patterns of behavior
that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A
claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and
accepted by law." Generally, customary law exists where:
- a certain legal practice is observed and
- the relevant actors consider it to be law
The modern codification of civil
law developed out of the customs, or coutumes of
the Middle Ages, expressions of law that developed in
particular communities and slowly collected and later written down by
local jurists. Such customs acquired the force of law
when they became the undisputed rule by which certain entitlements (rights) or obligations were
regulated between members of a community.[1] The Custom of
Paris - the customary law that developed within the city of Paris - is an
example of custom law.
In international
law, customary law refers to the Law of Nations
or the legal norms that have developed through the customary exchanges
between states over time, whether based on diplomacy or aggression. Essentially, legal
obligations are believed to arise between states to carry out their
affairs consistently with past accepted conduct. These customs can also
change based on the acceptance or rejection by states of particular acts.
Some principles of customary law have achieved the force of peremptory norms, which cannot be violated or
altered except by a norm of comparable strength. These norms are said to
gain their strength from universal acceptance, such as the prohibitions
against genocide and slavery. Customary
international law can be distinguished from treaty law, which
consists of explicit agreements between nations to assume obligations.
However, many treaties are attempts to codify pre-existing customary
law