4.5 Sources of Law

Preliminary distinction (always open with it): formal sources (that from which a rule acquires legal force — statute, precedent) vs material sources (that from which its content is drawn — custom, foreign models, juristic writing). Salmond's distinction; the syllabus's list comprises the formal and semi-formal sources of the common-law world and of Nepal. 4.5.1 Legislation: Meaning and Kinds Meaning: the making of law by a competent authority in the form of an enacted, written command — in a democracy, principally the legislature. Kinds: supreme legislation (by the sovereign law-making body itself — Acts of Nepal's federal parliament; provincial acts within provincial competence; also ordinances, which the executive promulgates under constitutional conditions when parliament is not in session) vs subordinate/delegated legislation (rules, regulations, by-laws made under a parent Act's authority — the vast daily output: the Rules under the Codes, directives of the Nepal Rastra Bank, local laws of the 753 governments — each with a constitutional and statutory anchor, and each reviewable for exceeding the delegation). Merits (write three): certainty and publicity; prospectivity and clarity; capacity for rapid, deliberate change; democratic authorship (in a republic, legislation carries the people's mandate). Demerits: rigidity and gaps (no legislature foresees all cases); excessive delegation risk; volume and overlap. Nepal: the constitutional sequence — Bill → passage by both federal houses → assent →…