The American law is derived from two sets of law; the primary law and the secondary law. Each of these brings a new dimension to law and is crucial in understanding the legal process holistically. The primary Sources of the American Law refer to the sources of the law itself. What this implies is that the primary sources of the law are the texts of enactment by the government containing rules that govern a given jurisdiction ( Princeton University Library, 2016). The primary sources of the law take forms such as the constitution, statutes, cases, and regulations. In understanding the purpose of primary sources of law, it is essential to understand the meaning of each of these forms. However, the general use of primary sources of law is to serve as the actual law and set of rules issued by a governing body that tells the citizens of the particular jurisdiction what they can and cannot do (Princeton University Library, 2016). The constitution is a fundamental set of principles around which all other law is derived and organized. It is right to point out therefore that the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land and the ultimate source of all government power .
Statutes, on the other hand, are the formal written law passed by a legislative body. Before a law is enacted (thereby becoming a statute), it begins as a bill in the legislature. Such a bill can start either House of the Legislature but must pass both houses to become law. The third source or form of primary sources of law is a court case (Princeton University Library, 2016). A court case is a dispute between two or more parties that is resolved by a court. The parties can either be individual people or groups of people, the government, or incorporated entities. Additionally, cases can either be civil or criminal, and can be brought before state or federal courts, or both. The courts serve as the bodies to interpret and apply statutes and constitutions in a court proceeding. Sometimes, however, the legislative body may take the opinion of the court and use it to help re-work a new statute that will pass constitutional muster. The purpose of court cases is the fact that the previous rulings are relied upon in making a current rule on a similar situation, thereby laying the foundation of judgment upon which similar cases may be heard and determined. Regulations are sometimes also called administrative laws. Though quite similar to statutes, regulations are issued by administrative agencies, which are part of the executive branch of the government. The difference therefore between regulations and statutes lies on the fact that regulations are not decided by people who are elected by the public (legislators), though there are rules that regulations must go through before being adopted ( Barkan, Bintliff & Whisner, 2015). The purpose of regulations is to establish the check balances that dwell into the nitty gritty details of carrying out the directives laid out in statutes.
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Secondary sources of law, on the other hand, are materials that offer analysis, commentary, or a restatement of primary law (Library of Congress, 2015). These materials are used to help locate and explain the primary sources of law. In as much as secondary sources may influence a legal decision, they do not have the controlling or binding authority that primary sources of law do have. Some examples of secondary sources of law include legal dictionaries (Library of Congress, 2015). Legal dictionaries are used in the definition of words in their legal sense or use. These publications of meanings and interpretations provide a short description of foreign legal words and phrases, mostly Latin, that refers to cases and other legal sources for authority. The legal dictionaries may give examples of word usage in various legal situations and may include tables defining legal abbreviations and acronyms ( Cohen & Olson, 2010). In a nutshell, the purpose of legal dictionaries is to create and interpreting the meaning of legal terminologies and situations.
A second example of the secondary source of law is Words and Phrases. This is a multivolume research tool that is similar to the legal dictionary in the sense that it includes legal definitions of words. The difference, however, lies in the fact that the words and phrases also include multiple entries indicating how a court of law has previously defined the term or the word. It is a more or less an upgraded version of the legal dictionary that takes into account the court's perspective of a given legal situation. Legal Encyclopedias offer a broader and more general commentary on a full range of federal and state laws. These commentaries and expounded laws are useful as a starting point for researching unfamiliar areas of law. The purpose of legal encyclopedias is to provide legal articles that lay the foundation upon which deeper and more profound legal research is conducted. The third example of secondary sources of the America law includes the Annotated Law Reports ( Library of Congress, 2015). These reports provide essays that analyze and discuss particular points of the law. They focus on narrow legal issues rather than general points of view. These articles also examine and describe cases from every jurisdiction that have in the previous point in time taken a position on the topic in question ( Cohen & Olson, 2010). In simple terms, Annotated law reports provide a reference to statutes, digests, texts, treaties, law reviews, and legal encyclopedias laying the foundation upon which future similar cases may be tried and decided.
As can be seen, there is a difference between primary sources of law and secondary sources of law. These two are equally important in the understanding of the legal system and the establishment of the basis upon which judicial decisions are made. The main difference between secondary and primary sources of legal law is the fact that primary law is the law itself. That is, it is the foundation that dictates what is right and wrong legally, and lays structure for legal actions to be taken against lawbreakers and offenders. The secondary sources of the administrative law, on the other hand, deal mainly on the latter aspect of the law; the legal structure for actions against lawbreakers ( Library of Congress, 2015). It clearly defines the mechanism upon which legal justice is to be served. While the primary sources of legal law may be the actual law in the form of constitutions, statutes, court cases, and administrative rules and regulations, the secondary sources of the judicial law are tasked with restating these laws, and as such discuss, analyze, describe, explain, or critique the law. The use of these secondary sources in defining legal words and phrases, or helping in legal research helps in laying out the mechanisms for understanding and interpreting the American law.
In conclusion, it is essential to observe that the secondary sources of law help in interpreting the meaning of legal situations in a manner that can be easily understood by both the general public, and the legal systems in their passing of judgments. The law itself is vague and ambiguous in its original nature and needs to be broken down to give out the different intended meanings according to the nature of the legal issue at hand. They expound on the law itself, or the primary sources of legal law as far as legal references necessary in court decisions are concerned.
References
Barkan, S. M., Bintliff, B., & Whisner, M. (2015). Fundamentals of legal research.
Cohen, M. L., & Olson, K. C. (2010). Legal research in a nutshell . West.
Library of Congress. (2015). Guide to secondary legal resources . Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/law/help/secondary-rsrcs.php
Princeton University Library. (2016). Legal research at Princeton: U.S. Law: Primary sources of U.S. Law . Retrieved from https://libguides.princeton.edu/c.php?g=84173&p=542492
