Is “customary law” law?

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International Journal of Development Research

Is “customary law” law?

Abstract: 

Normative laws govern the conduct of persons in society and both customary and enacted laws are members of this set of laws. And the question as to whether customary law may be regarded as law properly so-called appears to have been posed as a skeptics question, which thus does not seem to require a yes or no answer. What we need here is to provide reasons to justify the answer we prefer, whether as accepting the thesis or rejecting it. This paper is therefore an attempt to show that we can both see law as custom and custom as law. From the standpoint of logic seen as the language according to which things are done, we have provided both the form and the function of customary law in assuming these statuses. Our conclusion is that customary law is a species or subset of law.

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