Sources of law

The sources of law can be defined in a two ways. That is the meaning of sources of law could be from where the law get legitimacy or where is the origin of law and on the other hand what the court use while deciding the case. On that very basis the sources of law can be

     1.      legislation

     2.      Precedent

     3.      custom

Legislation

The laws made by the parliament of the country are called the legislation. This is the popular sources of law and cover almost area of law. This is the important source of law as well. The legislation is coercive in nature and violation of it, amount the punishment. Company Act 2063, Contract Act 2056, Agency Act 2014, Mediation Act 2055 are the example of legislation in Nepal.

Precedent

Precedent is the decision made by the supreme court of the country in a case. If Supreme Court propounds certain principles while deciding the case, the principle or decision should be followed by the lower court and the Supreme Court as well. That is why, It is also treated as source of law.

Custom

Custom can be defined as a regular practice carryout by the society from time immemorial. It is also treated as law itself. While deciding the case the court also considers the custom of the society, thus the custom is also the sources of law. Generally for the valid custom it should be backed by four elements at least

1. practice from time immemorial
2. continuity
3. shouldn’t contradict to the law
4. Practice by bulk of people as it has societal interest.

Besides the sources above mentions there are other sources of law as well they are convention, writing of experts, morality, equity and good conscience and determination of international organization. Among them convention is binding if that is ratified by the state and equally applicable as domestic law but other are only persuasive sources of law.