Legal Definition and Related Resources of Custom

usage , having the force of law, being established by long use and consent of ancestors. local common law as distinguished from general common law. Not a statute law but a local law because it is a law of a particular place and existing before the time of Richard the First. A custom in order to be recognized, must have been used since before the time of legal memory , that is, that the memory of man runs not to the contrary; it must have been continued and peaceable; reasonable and certain; compulsory, and not left to the option of every person , whether he will use it or not; and consistent with other customs , for one custom cannot be set up in opposition to another. Customs are either general or particular. The general custom is one that is applicable in the whole realm and is properly called the common law. Particular or local customs are those which only affect a defined or identifiable locality.

Such a usage as by common consent and uniform practice has become the law of the place, or of the subject-matter, to which it relates. It differs from prescription, which is personal, and is annexed to the person of the owner of a particular estate; while the other is local, and relates to a particular district. An instance of the latter occurs where the question is upon the manner of conducting a particular branch of trade at a certain place; of the former, where a certain person and his ancestors, or those whose estates he has, have been entitled to a certain advantage or privilege, as to have common pf pasture in a certain close, or the like. 2 Bl. Comm. 263. General customs are such as constitute a part of the common law, and extend to the whole country. Particular customs are those which are confined to a particular district.

noun

• ceremony
• characteristic way
• common usage
• consuetude
• convention
• conventionalism
• conventionality
• course of business
• dictates of society
• established way of doing things
• etiquette
• familiar way
• fashion
• fashionableness
• formality
• habit
• habit of a majority
• habitual activity
• habitual practice
• habituation
• habitude
• institution
• manner
• matter of course
• observance
• ordinary manner
• practice
• prescribed form
• prevailing taste
• prevalence
• rite
• ritual
• routine
• routine procedure
• social usage
• style
• tradition
• traditionalism
• traditionality
• unwritten law
• usage
• usual manner
• vogue
• wont
• wontedness Associated Concepts: custom of merchants
• custom or practice
• custom or usage
• general custom
• local customs
• usual course and custom
• waiver by custom foreign phrases: Servanda est consuetudo loci ubi causa agitur
• The custom of the place where the action is brought should be observed
• In contractibus
• taciteinsunt quae sunt moris et consuetudinis
• In contracts
• matters of custom and usage are tacitly implied
• Consuetudo tollit communem legem
• Custom supersedes the common law
• Consuetudo non trahitur in consequentiam
• Custom is not drawn into consequence
• Consuetudo manerii et loci observanda est
• Custom of a manor and a locality is to be observed
• Consuetudo est optimus interpreslegum
• Custom is the best interpreter of the laws
• Consuetudo est altera lex
• Custom is another law
• Consuetudo contra rationem introductapotius usurpado quam consuetudo appellari debet
• A custom introduced contrary to reason ought rather to be called a usurpation than a custom
• Ratio est formalis causa consuetudinis
• Reason is the source and cause of custom
• Things which are done contrary to the custom and manner of our ancestors neither please nor appear right
• Optimus interpres rerum us us
• Usage is the best interpreter of things
• Optima est legis interpres consuetudo
• Custom is the best interpreter of the law
• Omne jus aut consensus fecit
• aut necessitas constituit autfirmavit consuetudo
• Every right is either derived from consent
• established by necessity
• or is confirmed by custom
• Minime mutanda sunt quae certam habuerunt interpretationem
• Those matters which have had a certain interpretation are to be altered as little as possible
• Obtemperandum est consuetudini rationabili tanquam legi
• A reasonable custom is to be obeyed like law
• Malusususabolendusest
• Consuetudo volentes ducit
• lex nolentes trahit
• Custom leads the willing
• the law compels the unwilling
• Consuetudo vincit communem legem
• Custom overrules the common law
• In consuetudinibus
• In consuetudinibus
• non diutumitas temporis sed soliditas rationisest consideranda
• In customs
• not lapse of time
• but the soundness of reason should be considered
• Consuetudo semel reprobata non potest amplius induci
• Custom once disallowed cannot again be invoked
• Consuetudo praescripta et legitima vincit legem
• Custom is the best interpreter of the law
• Omne jus aut consensus fecit
• aut necessitas constituit autfirmavit consuetudo
• Every right is either derived from consent
• established by necessity
• or is confirmed by custom
• Minime mutanda sunt quae certam habuerunt interpretationem
• Those matters which have had a certain interpretation are to be altered as little as possible
• Obtemperandum est consuetudini rationabili tanquam legi
• A reasonable custom is to be obeyed like law
• Malusususabolendusest
• A bad custom is to be abolished
• Consuetudo volentes ducit
• lex nolentes trahit
• Custom leads the willing
• the law compels the unwilling
• Consuetudo vincit communem legem
• Custom overrules the common law
• In consuetudinibus
• non diutumitas temporis sed soliditas rationisest consideranda
• In customs
• not lapse of time
• but the soundness of reason should be considered
• Consuetudo semel reprobata non potest amplius induci
• Custom once disallowed cannot again be invoked
• Consuetudo praescripta et legitima vincit legem
• A prescriptive and lawful custom prevails over the law
• Consuetudo neque injuria oriti neque tollipotest
• Custom can neither arise from nor be abolished by a wrongful act
• Consuetudo loci observanda est
• The custom of a locality is to be observed
• Consuetudo
• licet sit magnae auctoritatis
• nunquam tamen
• praejudicat manifestae veritati
• A custom
• though it be of great authority
• should never be prejudicial to manifest truth
• Consuetudo ex certa causa rationabili usitata privat communem legem
• A custom
• based on a certain and reasonable cause
• supersedes the common law
• Consuetudo et communis assuetudo vincit legem non scriptam
• si sit specialis; et interpretatur legem scriptam
• si lex sit generalis
• Custom and common usage override the unwritten law
• if it be special; and interprets the written law
• if the law be general

Browse or run a search for Custom in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

Custom in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Custom in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Custom in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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This definition of Custom is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

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Custom in the Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims

French custume; Latin costuma; con, together, very; suere, to make one’s own – have it one’s own way. That length of usage which has become law; a usage which has acquired the force of law.

Note: This legal definition of Custom in the Dictionary of Law (English and American Jurisprudence) is from 1893.

Custom in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of custom.

Grammar

This term is a noun.

Etimology of Custom

(You may find custom at the world legal encyclopedia and the etimology of more terms).

c. 1200, “habitual practice,” from Old French costume “custom, habit, practice; clothes, dress” (12c., Modern French coutume), from Vulgar Latin *consuetumen, from Latin consuetudinem (nominative consuetudo) “habit, usage, way, practice, tradition, familiarity,” from consuetus, past participle of consuescere “accustom,” from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + suescere “become used to, accustom oneself,” related to sui, genitive of suus “oneself,” from PIE *swe- “oneself” (see idiom). Replaced Old English _eaw. Sense of a “regular” toll or tax on goods is early 14c. The native word here is toll.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Policeman
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• custom in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• custom in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

Definition of Custom

In the context of international law, the legal resource A Dictionary of Law, provides a definition of Custom :

A practice that has been followed in a particular locality in such circumstances that it is to be accepted as part of the law of that locality. In order to be recognized as customary law it must be reasonable in nature and it must have been followed continuously, and as if it were a right, since the beginning of legal memory. Legal memory began in 1189, but proof that a practice has been followed within living memory raises a presumption that it began before that date. Custom is one of the four sources of *international law. Its elaboration is a complex process involving the accumulation of state practice, i.e. (1) the decisions of those who advise the state to act in a certain manner, (2) the practices of international organizations, (3) the decisions of international and national courts on disputed questions of international law, and (4) the mediation.n of jurists who organize and evaluate the amorphous material of state activity. One essential ingredient in transforming mere practice into obligatory customary law is *opinio juris.

Definition of Custom

A practice in society or a rule of conduct established by long usage, which binds those under it. Many customs are not legally binding. In order for a custom to constitute a valid law, it must date back to time immemorial, and be certain and obligatory. A custom can be general, particular or local.