2006-06-30 12:36:39 · 6 answers · asked by bblo wendell 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
If you mean "where do laws come from", the answer is philosophy. Most of our laws (the ones that make sense, anyway), are derived from great philosophers. The greeks gave us trial by jury. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" was given to us partly by John Locke (originally "life, liberty, and property). Take a look at deontological ethics, and you'll find some familiar concepts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deontology
2006-06-30 12:43:56 · answer #1 · answered by lewie82 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to Criminologist and theorist Marchese de Beccaria, the source of law should be determined by the interests of the state. In the case of the US, all of our laws are created by some sort of governing body. Our national and state laws are created by the legislature while our local ordinances are created by county and city municipalities.
However, the laws themselves have mostly been adopted by British law, or in other words, called Common Law, this is when a law has been created simply by already occuring, when a judge uses common law, they can base their decision of guilty and non-guilt based off of "case on point" or "stare decisis".
It would be impossible to cover the entire source of law since each society and government creates and/or adopts their laws differently.
2006-06-30 20:12:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The common law that developed in England over centuries.
2006-06-30 19:41:17 · answer #3 · answered by Superstar 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Which Law?
2006-07-07 09:41:36 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
US law is all originally based on British law.
2006-06-30 19:40:45 · answer #5 · answered by ed 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
each society determines what the source of it's laws will be.
in most societies it starts from religious codes.
2006-06-30 19:40:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋