Custom
Definition of Custom
In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Custom :
A practice that has been followed in a particular locality in such circumstances that it is to be accepted as part of the law of that locality. In order to be recognized as customary law it must be reasonable in nature and it must have been followed continuously, and as if it were a right, since the beginning of legal memory. Legal memory began in 1189, but proof that a practice has been followed within living memory raises a presumption that it began before that date. Custom is one of the four sources of *international law. Its elaboration is a complex process involving the accumulation of state practice, i.e. (1) the decisions of those who advise the state to act in a certain manner, (2) the practices of international organizations, (3) the decisions of international and national courts on disputed questions of international law, and (4) the mediation.n of jurists who organize and evaluate the amorphous material of state activity. One essential ingredient in transforming mere practice into obligatory customary law is *opinio juris.
The Legal History of Custom
This section provides an overview of Custom
Custom
Embracing mainstream international law, this section on custom explores the context, history and effect of the area of the law covered here.
Custom
Custom and Usage
Resources
See Also
- Usage
Resources
See Also
- Custom and usage
Resources
Further Reading
- The entry “custom” in the Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (currently, the Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law, 2009), Oxford University Press
Resources
See Also
- Legal Biography
- Legal Traditions
- Historical Laws
- History of Law
Further Reading
- Custom in the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (Oxford University Press)
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History (Oxford University Press)
- Custom in the Dictionary of Concepts in History, by Harry Ritter
- A Short History of Western Legal Theory, by John Kelly