Jurispridence-1
Lecture-15
Kinds of law
Fatima Riaz
Visiting Lecturer
University of Sahiwal
Kinds of law
Sir John Salmond refers to eight kinds of law
• Imperative law
• Physical or scientific law
• Natural or moral law
• Conventional law
Kinds of law (Cont…)
• Customary law
• Practical or technical law
• International law and civil law
Imperative law
• According to Salmond
• “imperative law means a rule which prescribes a
general course of action imposed by some
authority which enforces it by superior power
either by physical force or any other form of
compulsion.”
Imperative law (cont…)
• The chief advocate of imperative law is Austin
who defines law as a command which obliges a
person or persons to a course of conduct.
Imperative law (cont…)
• It is in the very nature of law to be imperative,
otherwise it is not law but a rule which may or
may not be obeyed.
Imperative law (cont…)
• Imperative laws have been classified with reference
to the authority from which they proceed.
• They are either divine or human.
Imperative law (cont…)
Divine law consist of the commands imposed by God
upon men and they are enforced by threats of
punishment in this world or in the next world.
Imperative law (cont…)
• Human law consists of imperative rules imposed
upon men.
• Those are of three kinds
1. Civil law
2. Positive morality
3. International law
Civil law
• Civil law consists of command issued by the state to
its subjects and enforced by its physical power
Positive morality
• The law of positive morality consists of rules imposed
by society upon its members and enforced by pubic
censure or disapprobation.
International law
• International law consists of rules imposed upon
states by the society of states and enforced partly by
international opinion and partly by the threat of war.
International law (Cont…)
• The rules of international law are followed
compulsorily and their breach is visited by
punishment.
• Those may be war the severance of diplomatic
relations , enforcement of economic sanctions and
condemnation by other states.
Characteristics
• Salmond refers to two essential characteristics of
imperative law
• First characteristic is that the command of the
sovereign must be in the form of a general rule.
Characteristics (Cont…)
• It must not be a particular command addressed to a
particular individual and not to others.
• Law must be general or it is not law at all.
Characteristics (Cont…)
• However critics point out that complete generality is
neither possible nor desirable.
• Sometimes a law is applicable only to a particular class
and not to the whole population.
Characteristics (Cont…)
• Moreover the class may be limited to a single person
and to a particular occasion.
• In spite of this it cannot be denied that law must not
make any distinction between individuals and should
apply to all and not to some of them.
Characteristics (Cont…)
• The second characteristic of imperative law is that it
should be enforced by some authority.
• The observance of law must not depend upon the
pleasure of the people.
Characteristics (Cont…)
Law has to be enforced by the machinery of the state.
The source is not consent, custom or reason but the
strength of the State.
Characteristics (Cont…)
The instrument of coercion by which law is enforced is
called sanction.
Sometimes sanction is in the form of censure, ridicule or
contempt and sometimes in the form of physical force.
Sanction is not necessarily a punishment.
Thank You