Legal Norms as Building Blocks of Legal Systems

Abstract

The paper analyses legal norms as building blocks of legal systems. Starting point is the generally excepted definition of legal norms as rules of conduct passed by an authorized legislator in legal procedure and guaranteed by the state’s enforcement mechanism. On the bases of these defining characteristics legal norms are differentiated from other socially imposed rules of conduct such as morals and customs. The paper also examines the structure of legal norms which consists of two basic elements (disposition and sanction), and two auxiliary elements (hypothesis for the disposition, and hypothesis for the sanction). In the course of the analysis concerning the types of legal norms, different classification are taken into consideration, but the paper focuses on those who are more significant for positive law, such as classifications based on content, effect and aim of the legal norms.