The positive law It is the set of legal and legal provisions designed by man to govern their coexistence and imposed by the organization of a State, as well as collected in a written body that contains the detailed legal framework. For example: commercial regulations, criminal codes, legal contracts.
Unlike natural law (inherent in human beings) and customary law (dictated by custom), positive law is imposed collectively in order to regulate the coexistence of people, sanctioned by State institutions in accordance with the provisions of a code -a body of written laws- which, in turn, can be changed by consensus. It is, as will be seen, laws based on a legal and social pact.
sayings rules and laws They also have a hierarchy, a scope and a determined area of action, in accordance with what their deeds establish. That is why there are state legal apparatuses (judges, lawyers, courts, etc.) in charge of correctly interpreting the content of the deeds.
Differences between positive law and natural law
They are part of positive law all legal and legislative documents of a specific State, not only those that are in force and those that we consider the Law; but also its legislative history, the repealed laws and all kinds of legal regulations or regulations that have ever been written.
In this sense, positive law is sustained on the basis of the doctrine of iuspositivism, opposite to natural law in his consideration that the only true legal norms are those promulgated in consensus by man. Natural law, on the other hand, proclaims the existence of primary, moral laws, which are born along with the human condition.
If natural law is born with man, positive law is instead granted by society and the State.
Examples of positive law
- Road and transportation codes. All transport regulations, both by land (automobiles and vehicles of all kinds), water (ships and others) and air (planes and airplanes) adhere to legal codes written by social and political consensus, so that they are recorded in manuscripts and they are often made up of a series of signs and symbols that, as they require interpretation, require a formal education in the area on the part of the person.
- Commercial regulations. The regulations that govern how to correctly and legally do business in a country, which includes records, procedures and legal protocols, are contemplated in mercantile codes and specific laws of the area, which can be consulted to carry out a business with either on the contrary, to know if perhaps we have been victims of a bad procedure.
- Birth, marriage and death certificates. All stationery whose function is to record the changes in civil and vital status of the citizens of a country, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, are issued by the State in accordance with a written order, which records what happens and allows legal proof of the past.
- national constitutions. Every legal framework of a nation, where the procedures to elect its representatives are found, the different powers are described and life is legally ordered, are an emblematic exercise of positive law: these norms are written and printed massively so that citizens know what are the rules of the game in your nation.
- criminal codes. A part of the state legal systems refers specifically to the procedures of justice and punishment of the crime, that is, what to do and how to proceed when facing a robbery, a robbery, a murder and all the forms contemplated in writing of transgression . In countries with religious fundamentalist governments, this code is often dictated by their sacred texts such as the Koran. In these particular cases, perhaps we would be in the presence of a divine right, more than positive, since it is assumed that God himself would have dictated those sacred laws.
- Professional ethical codes. Every unionized profession, that is to say, with a tuition that ensures both the defense of the rights and the fulfillment of the duties of all professional graduates and diploma holders, adheres to a written ethical and legal code shared with all those who exercise said profession. profession.
- legal contracts. Any legal agreement voluntarily signed by two parties who certify it and undertake to comply with it by signing a written document, that is, a contract, are exercising positive law. That document will remain even when the service, sale or agreement of any kind has been carried out and will form part of the legal history of said persons and of the country.
- Use licenses. Similar to contracts, use licenses such as those digitally displayed to us when we subscribe to the use of a software program, or provided to us when purchasing certain products, are also written forms of legal agreement that belong to the realm of positive law.
- Legal files. The legal history of a nation, an institution or a court can be consulted in its legal files, in which an important number of legal writings, lawsuits, judicial resolutions and other documents that are part of positive law remain.
- founding documents. Large human enterprises usually consist of some type of founding document that certifies their creation or attests to the terms in which it was carried out, who was involved and what specific agreement they reached. Sometimes in a merely documentary or historical way, other times for legal or juridical litigation, these documents remain over time and can be consulted and used within the framework of positive law actions.