Custom (law)
Custom in law is the established pattern 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." Customary law exists where:
- a certain legal practice is observed and
- the relevant actors consider it to be law (opinio juris).
Related is the idea of prescription; a right enjoyed through long custom rather than positive law.
Read more about Custom (law): Customary Law and Codification, International Law, Customary Law Within Contemporary Legal Systems, Custom in Torts, Custom Law in India, Customary Legal Systems
Famous quotes containing the word custom:
“That, upon the whole, we may conclude that the Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one. Mere reason is insufficient to convince us of its veracity: And whoever is moved by Faith to assent to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in his own person, which subverts all the principles of his understanding, and gives him a determination to believe what is most contrary to custom and experience.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)