Source of law - Rechtsquelle; source of law

Japanese: 法源 - ほうげん（英語表記）Rechtsquelle; source of law

Although this concept is used in a very ambiguous way, it generally means the form in which law exists. In this sense, statute law, case law, and customary law are sources of law, but there is also debate as to whether reason, theory, practice, etc. are also sources of law. The practical benefit of determining in what form the current law exists is to set the limits of the standards that judges can follow, so the source of law is sometimes defined as the standard that judges must follow when making a trial, and those that judges are obligated to follow are sometimes called "institutional sources of law" (e.g., statute law, customary law), and those that judges actually follow are sometimes called "de facto sources of law" (e.g., case law, theory, reason, etc.). In addition to the above, it is also sometimes used to mean "the basis for the validity of law" and "materials that serve as the basis for the historical understanding of law."

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

きわめて多義的に用いられている概念であるが，一般的に法の存在形式を意味する。この意味では制定法，判例法，慣習法が法源であるが，さらに条理，学説，慣行などが法源となるかが争われている。現行法がどのような形式で存在するかということを確定することの実益は，裁判官の準拠しうる基準の限界を画することにあるから，法源を，裁判官が裁判を行う際の拠るべき基準となるものと定義する場合もあり，裁判官の準拠を義務づけるものを「制度上の法源」 (たとえば，制定法，慣習法) ，裁判官が事実上従っているものを「事実上の法源」 (たとえば判例，学説，条理など) と呼ぶ場合もある。以上のほかに，「法の妥当性の根拠」「法の歴史的認識のよりどころとなる資料」の意味で用いられることもある。

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