Customary Law
Custom is a source of law in the Jersey legal system. It has been described as "the product of generally accepted usage and practice. It has no formal sanction or authority behind it other than the general consensus of opinion within the community". It differs from English common law where rules stated by a judge of a senior court are binding law because they are stated by a judge. In customary law, the role of the judiciary is to look for evidence of what is "generally accepted usage and practice".
Many rules of customary law have crystallised to such an extent (through repeated acknowledgment by the Royal Court and in the way people conduct their affairs) that everyone accepts them as binding without discussion. The boundaries of the Parishes, the existence of the office of Bailiff and various rules relating to possession of land and inheritance fall into this category. Many rules of customary law are to be found discussed in the texts of the "Commentators" and the case law of the Jersey courts. Where the works of the commentators do not deal with situation, the Jersey courts look at factual evidence to work out is the "generally accepted usage and practice".
The customary law of the Duchy of Normandy is particularly influential as a source of law in Jersey, even though Jersey ceased to part of Normandy in 1204. Norman law developed in two main epochs–the "Ancienne coutume" (1199–1538) and the "Coutume reformée" (1538–1804).
Read more about this topic: Law Of Jersey, Sources of Law
Other articles related to "law, customary law, customary":
... Intervening states are unlikely to be condemned as law-breakers, although they take a risk of violating rules for a purportedly higher purpose ... Customary law This approach involves reviewing the evolution of customary law for a legal justification of non-authorized humanitarian intervention in rare cases ... This approach asks whether an emerging norm of customary law can be identified under which humanitarian intervention can be understood not only as ethically and politically justified but also as ...
... The general reception of English law under the Second Charter of Justice (see the article "Law of Singapore") was subject to three qualifications, one of which was that English law ... This principle was generally applied in family law and related matters thus, in certain early cases English law was modified by Chinese, Malay and Hindu customary law, and some native usages or ... the enactment of the Women's Charter in 1961 has unified the family law for all ethno-religious groups in Singapore except the Muslims, who are separately regulated by the Administration of Muslim ...
... Traditional chiefs act as mediators and counselors and have authority in customary law cases as well as status under national law, where they were ... they had no police or judicial powers and may only mediate, not arbitrate, customary law disputes ... Customary courts, located only in large towns and cities, try cases involving divorce or inheritance ...
... Many rules of customary law have been amended or abolished by legislation in the later 19th and 20th centuries ... Examples of this include “Any rule of customary law, that a contract passed before the Royal Court for the transfer of immovable property may be annulled, at the instance of the heirs or. 2) (Jersey) Law 1984) ...
... It was influenced by canon law (especially the decretals of Gregory IX), Roman law (especially the Digest), the customary law of the Orléanais, and the legislation of the Capetian Kings of France ... It is not a coutoumier (compilation of customary law) and most of the customary law it cites is limited to Orléans ...
Famous quotes containing the words law and/or customary:
“There ought to be a law against necessity.”
—E.Y. Harburg (1898–1981)
“It has become customary to say that a man needs only six feet of land. But a corpse needs six feet, not a person.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)