Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1957-11-20
This Is
The Law
BY ROBERT T.. LEE
FOR THE n. 4. BAR
ASSOCIATION
SOURCES OF LAW


What are the sources of the
laws enforced in courts?
Law may be defined as a body
OF rules which ths courts of a
particular state Will recognize
and enforce. II is an agency of
social control that has received
the sanction of the sovereign
state.
The courts are the sole auth
oribed Interpreters of the law.
They are the ones TO determine
what rules are to be recognized
and enforced.
The primary sources OF law
are said to be: constitutions,
statutes, and common law Oudi-
cial precedents). These are the
three places where one may find
the rules which the courts of a
particular state will recognize
and enforce.
The United States and each of
the states have written constitu-
items framed by representatives
OF the people. These constitu-
tions state the powers and duties
OF the various officers of govern
ment and define the fundament-
al rights of citizens, as, for ex-
ample, the right Of freedom of
speech or to a jury trial. They
are of paramount Importance for
define with more OF less preci-
sion the character and frame
work of government
The Constitution of the United
States is said to be a delegation
or grant of powers, whereas the
constitution of state is said to
be a limitation of powers. In
other words, the United States
does not have power To do any
thing unless such power express
ly or implicitly has been given in
the Constitution OF the United
States: while a state can do any
thing not forbidden by its own
constitution or surrendered II
the federal government.
A statute IS an enactment of
legislative body in accordance
with the terms of the conStitu-
ton. These rules which are "a
dopted by Congress and approx
ed by the President are called
federal statutes: they must not
violate provisions OF the federal
constitution. The laws adopted
by the state legislatures are
called state statutes" The sta
tutcS of 4 state must not be con-
trary TO either the federal or
the state constitutions. \ statute
contrary to either OF these is said
to be unconstitutional" that is
of no effect whatever.
The state statutes of North
Carolina may be found in large
and expensive set of volumes
known as the General Statutes
Of North Carolina"
An ordinance Is local Statu-
tory law OF some city or town.
The common law consists of
judicial presidents. When there
is no statute applicable to a
particular controversy, the COM
mon law affords a rule and a
guide. 1t covers the whole range
OF law not covered by constitu-
tiOnS and statutes.
The great bulk Of our legal
principles are based upon the
common law or judicial prcCc-
dents. It is always surprising to
laymen TO discover that very few
Of our legal rules are controlled
by statutes.
Lawyers in North Carolina
search for the common law APP
pl;cable to a particular case first
in one of the 245 printed VOL
umeS of the North Carolina Su-
preme Court Reports, and if no
decision can be found therein,
then they search the reports of
cases from other American jur-
isdlctionS and England.
Whenever there is conflict
bctw cen statute and a princi-
pie OF the common law. the sta
tutc prevails. The constitution is
paramount to both statutes and
the common law.
II a lawyer has found a sta
tute controlling a particular case
he frequently will consult the
decisions Of the court to find the
courts Interpretation OF the
statute.