Editing Customary law (section)

{{Short description|Legal principle}}
{{Political anthropology|expanded=Basic concepts}}
A '''legal custom''' is the established pattern of behavior within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law".

'''Customary law''' (also, '''consuetudinary''' or '''unofficial law''') exists where:  
#a certain legal practice is observed and
#the relevant actors consider it to be an opinion of law or necessity (''[[Opinio juris sive necessitatis|opinio juris]]'').

Most customary laws deal with ''standards of the community'' that have been long-established in a given locale. However, the term can also apply to areas of [[international law]] where certain standards have been nearly [[Universal jurisdiction|universal]] in their acceptance as correct bases of action &ndash; for example, laws against [[piracy]] or [[slavery]] (see ''[[hostis humani generis]]''). In many, though not all instances, customary laws will have supportive court rulings and case law that have evolved over time to give additional weight to their rule as law and also to demonstrate the trajectory of evolution (if any) in the [[judicial interpretation]] of such law by relevant [[courts]].