Introduction to Law

The legislator has used its power to create statutes, and these statutes contain
both rules that guide behavior and rules that empower other institutions and also
private persons to create even more rules. In this way, a hierarchy of rules results.

For instance, a rule of private law will empower citizens to make last wills and contracts.
These last wills and contracts then contain additional rules which guide behavior. A rule of
constitutional law will empower the council of municipalities to make so-called “by laws,”
rules which have only a local scope of application. One such by law may deal with building
in the municipality, while another by law may deal with parking in the municipality. It is
certainly imaginable that the rules about parking empower Mayor and Aldermen of the
municipality to point out parking places, and if this power is used, these decisions by Mayor
and Aldermen count as valid law too.
The rules that empower institutions and citizens to create more laws make the
decisions of these institutions (e.g., bylaws and contracts) into validity sources of
law. The rules that are created by these bylaws and contracts are valid legal rulesfor
the reason that they stem from these bylaws and contracts.

Constitution

Statutory rule on

organization of

municipalities

Statutory

rule on con-

tracts and

wills

Local by-law

on parking

Local by-law

on building

Contractual rule:

time of delivery

Parking regulation

in marketplace

Tree of

sources

Fig. 2.1 Tree of sources

2 Sources of Law 27