Secondary authority
Encyclopedia
In law
, a secondary authority is an authority purporting to explain the meaning or applicability of the actual verbatim texts of primary authorities
(such as constitution
s, statute
s, case law
, administrative
regulation
s, executive orders
, treaties
, or similar legal instrument
s).
Some secondary authority materials are written and published by governments to explain the laws in simple, non-technical terms, while other secondary authority materials are written and published by private companies, non-profit organizations, or other groups or individuals. Some examples of secondary authority are:
In the United States, various legal scholars disagree over whether legislative histories in the form of texts of congressional committee reports should be considered to be secondary authority or, alternatively, primary authority.
Although secondary authorities are sometimes used in legal research
(especially, to allow a researcher to gain a preliminary, overall understanding of an unfamiliar area of law) and are sometimes even cited by courts in deciding cases, secondary authorities are generally afforded less weight than the actual texts of primary authority.
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, a secondary authority is an authority purporting to explain the meaning or applicability of the actual verbatim texts of primary authorities
Primary authority
A primary authority is a document that establishes the law on a particular issue, such as a case decision or legislative act. The search for applicable primary authority is an important part of the process of legal research....
(such as constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
s, statute
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
s, case law
Case law
In law, case law is the set of reported judicial decisions of selected appellate courts and other courts of first instance which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents in a process known as stare decisis...
, administrative
Administrative law
Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law...
regulation
Regulation
Regulation is administrative legislation that constitutes or constrains rights and allocates responsibilities. It can be distinguished from primary legislation on the one hand and judge-made law on the other...
s, executive orders
Delegated legislation
In the United Kingdom, delegated legislation is legislation or law that is passed otherwise than in an Act of Parliament . Instead, an enabling Act confers a power to make delegated legislation on a Government Minister or another person or body...
, treaties
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
, or similar legal instrument
Legal instrument
Legal instrument is a legal term of art that is used for any formally executed written document that can be formally attributed to its author, records and formally expresses a legally enforceable act, process, or contractual duty, obligation, or right, and therefore evidences that act, process, or...
s).
Some secondary authority materials are written and published by governments to explain the laws in simple, non-technical terms, while other secondary authority materials are written and published by private companies, non-profit organizations, or other groups or individuals. Some examples of secondary authority are:
- Law reviewLaw reviewA law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association...
articles, comments and notes (written by law professors, practicing lawyers, law students, etc.) - Legal textbooks, such as legal treatiseLegal treatiseA legal treatise is a scholarly legal publication containing all the law relating to a particular area, such as criminal law or trusts and estates...
s and hornbooks - Legal digests, such as the West American Digest SystemWest American Digest SystemThe West American Digest System is a system of identifying points of law from reported cases and organizing them by topic and key number. The system was developed by West Publishing to organize the entire body of American law...
- Annotations published in statute books, codesCode (law)A code is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the code was enacted, by a process of codification. Though the process and motivations for codification are similar in common law and civil law...
, or other materials, such as the annotations in the American Law ReportsAmerican Law ReportsIn American law, the American Law Reports are a resource used by American lawyers to find a variety of sources relating to specific legal rules, doctrines, or principles. It has been published since 1919 and remains an important tool for legal research....
series - Legal encyclopedias (such as Corpus Juris SecundumCorpus Juris SecundumCorpus Juris Secundum is an encyclopedia of U.S. law . Its full title is Corpus Juris Secundum: Complete Restatement Of The Entire American Law As Developed By All Reported Cases It contains an alphabetical arrangement of legal topics as developed by U.S...
and American JurisprudenceAmerican JurisprudenceAmerican Jurisprudence is an encyclopedia of United States law, published by West. It was originated by Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, which was subsequently acquired by the Thomson Corporation. The series is now in its second edition, launched in 1962...
) - Legal dictionaries (such as Black's Law DictionaryBlack's Law DictionaryBlack's Law Dictionary is the most widely used law dictionary in the United States. It was founded by Henry Campbell Black. It is the reference of choice for definitions in legal briefs and court opinions and has been cited as a secondary legal authority in many U.S...
) - Restatements of the LawRestatement of the LawIn American jurisprudence, the Restatements of the Law are a set of treatises on legal subjects that seek to inform judges and lawyers about general principles of common law...
published by the American Law InstituteAmerican Law InstituteThe American Law Institute was established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of American common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. The ALI drafts, approves, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, model codes, and other proposals for law... - Legal briefs and memoranda;
- Tax forms and instructions published by governments
- Government publications explaining or summarizing the laws
- Government employee manuals (such as the Internal Revenue Manual for employees of the Internal Revenue ServiceInternal Revenue ServiceThe Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
) - Course materials from continuing legal education seminars
- Debate in legislatureLegislatureA legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
s, including such commentaries published in the Congressional RecordCongressional RecordThe Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published by the United States Government Printing Office, and is issued daily when the United States Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks...
(this may reveal legislative intentLegislative intentIn law, the legislative intent of the legislature in enacting legislation may sometimes be considered by the judiciary when interpreting the law...
) - Other similar materials
In the United States, various legal scholars disagree over whether legislative histories in the form of texts of congressional committee reports should be considered to be secondary authority or, alternatively, primary authority.
Although secondary authorities are sometimes used in legal research
Legal research
Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and...
(especially, to allow a researcher to gain a preliminary, overall understanding of an unfamiliar area of law) and are sometimes even cited by courts in deciding cases, secondary authorities are generally afforded less weight than the actual texts of primary authority.