Legal Sources, EU Law Classification, and International Law Change

Jurisprudence and Sources of Law in the Legal System

Court decisions are not typically considered direct sources of law. Pursuant to legal theory, court decisions largely lack the defining features of law: general character and abstraction, insofar as they intend to settle a dispute by providing a specific solution according to concrete circumstances.

Accordingly, jurisprudence is not included among the listed sources of the Spanish legal system. Notwithstanding this revealing absence, Article 1.6 of the Civil Code (CC) entrusts the role of completing the legal system to the repeated opinions of the Supreme Court when interpreting and applying the sources of law. Thus, jurisprudence plays a valuable role for the legal system, despite not being a real source of law. Court opinions must be consistent and repeated in at least two decisions.

Classes of European Union (EU) Community Laws

Community laws are generally categorized into three distinct classes:

1. Primary Law

   The main sources of primary law are the Treaties establishing the European Union. These Treaties set out the distribution of competences between the Union and the Member States and establish the powers of the European institutions. They therefore determine the legal framework within which the EU institutions implement European policies.

2. Secondary Law

   Secondary sources are legal instruments based on the Treaties and include unilateral secondary law (regulations, directives, decisions, opinions, and recommendations) and conventions and agreements.

3. Supplementary Law

   Supplementary sources are elements of law not provided for by the Treaties. This category includes Court of Justice case-law, international law, and general principles of law.

Transformation of International Private Law

Conflict rules used to be the main tool of International Private Law for managing international activity. International Law has experienced a significant transformation, distilled in a growing abandonment of conflict-rules-based mechanisms and a resolute support for Uniform Law schemes.