A primary authority is a term used in legal research to refer to statements of law that are binding upon the courts, government, and individuals. Primary authority is usually in the form of a document that establishes the law, and if no document exists, is a legal opinion of a court. The search for applicable primary authority is the most important part of the process of legal research.
Examples of primary authority include the verbatim texts of:
- Constitutions;
- Basic laws;
- Statutes (whether codified or uncodified);
- Treaties and certain other international law materials;
- Municipal charters and ordinances;
- Court opinions;
- Rules of court procedure;
- Rules of evidence;
- Rules governing the conduct of lawyers;
- Administrative regulations;
- Executive orders.
Verbatim re-prints by private commercial law publishing companies are also considered primary authority, as long as the document purports to be and actually is a verbatim re-print of the applicable document, statute, regulation, court opinion, etc. Many lawyers, legal scholars, government agencies and others use verbatim re-prints of texts published by private publishing companies.
The term 'primary authority' is used to distinguish primary authority materials from texts considered to be Secondary authority.
Famous quotes containing the words primary and/or authority:
“The primary imperative for women who intend to assume a meaningful and decisive role in today’s social change is to begin to perceive themselves as having an identity and personal integrity that has as strong a claim for being preserved intact as that of any other individual or group.”
—Margaret Adams (b. 1916)
“I am still a learner, not a teacher, feeding somewhat omnivorously, browsing both stalk and leaves; but I shall perhaps be enabled to speak with more precision and authority by and by,—if philosophy and sentiment are not buried under a multitude of details.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)