1. Sources of Law & Law Creating
Fundamentals of Law & Government
Maciej Pichlak PhD
Department of Legal Theory and Philosophy of Law
University of Wroclaw

2. The concept of a source of law
SOURCES OF LAW
Fontes iuris oriundi
Fontes iuris cognoscendi
material
formal
official
unofficial

3. Basic forms of law creating
1. Law-making (Enacting)
- Unilateral (legislation, regulation)
- Multilateral (agreement, convention, treaty)
2. Practice
- Customary law
- Case law (precedents)

4. Forms of law-making Universally binding laws
- binding all categories of addressees (private individuals)
- published in official journals (promulgation)
- closed system (limited number of forms and subjects)
Internal laws
- binding only subordinated subjects
- less formalized, open system

5. Universally binding laws
Constitution
Parliamentary acts (statutes) Ratified international treaties
Executive orders Local laws
(regulations, ordinals)

6. Internal laws: Poland Resolutions and orders
Article 93 of Polish constitution:
Shall bind only those units organizationally subordinate to the organ which issues such act;
shall not serve as the ground for decisions taken in respect of citizens, legal persons and other subjects;
shall be subject to scrutiny regarding their compliance with universally binding law.

7. Customary law Perpetuated and steady practice
General conviction on a binding character (opinio iuris)
Authentication by state authorities
Where is it used?
Public international law;
laws of indigenous people (Africa, South and North America, Australia);
commercial law;
common law.

8. Precedent as a source of law
Precedent in common law and statutory law system:
Precedent de iure (binding) or de facto (persuasive)
Binding precedent:
- Binding for future cases (stare decisis principle)
- Independent and sufficient ground for decision

9. Public international law
Treaties
Customary law
Ius cogens
Law created by international organization

10. European Union law Secondary law Supplementary law
Primary law Treaties: Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Lisbon Treaty, 2007)
Secondary law
Regulations
Directives
Decisions, opinions and recommendations
Supplementary law
Case law of CJEU
General principles
An autonomous system, at the same time forming a part of the state law of the member states.

11. European Union law Its position in the state law of the member states
Direct effect (van Gend en Loos 1963)
Supremacy/ Priority (Costa v. ENEL 1964)
What about the hierarchy?
German Constitutional Court: Solange I (1974) and Solange II (1986).

12. Branches of EU Law Constitutional law Competition law
Law of internal market

13. Further reading
BASIC: ITL, Chapter 10 BLB, Chapter 5 ADDITIONAL: Sources and Scope of European Union Law ml?ftuId=FTU_1.2.1.html