Applicability of norms

Abstract

The sources of law give rise not only to norms, but also to hierarchical criteria that determine the relative importance of various norms that form part of a legal order. The identification of the material of which a legal system is composed must include a series of relations determining the relative weight of norms. The clearest example is the criterion based on the level of the authority that enacted the norm: for example, a constitutional rule is hierarchically superior to a rule enacted by the ordinary legislature, and the latter, in turn, is superior to a rule enacted by a city council. This criterion is called the ‘Lex Superior’. The ‘Lex Superior’ principle is based on the general hierarchy of a legal system: normative authority is divided along the lines of the hierarchical structure of the normative system; authorities with a lower rank of authority have to respect what was enacted by an authority with a higher rank.