Man-made law

Man-made law is law that is made by humans, usually considered in opposition to concepts like natural law or divine law. The European and American conception of man-made law has changed radically in the period from the Middle Ages to the present day. In the Thomistic view dominant in the Medieval period, man-made law is the lowest form of law, as a determinatio of natural law or divine positive law. In the view dominant in the modern period, man-made law is thought of as primary because it is man-made. The Soviet Union went further, not recognizing any such thing as divine or natural law. In several Islamic countries, man-made law is still considered to be subordinate to divine law. Professor Heinz Mohnhaupt of the Max Planck Institute for European History of Law relates man-made law to Hegel's concept of Rechtsgesetze or "Laws of Right", which Hegel placed in opposition to the Naturgesetz or laws of nature. In the Hegelian view, according to Mohnhaupt, man made law is Rechtsgesetze, or at least a subset thereof. Its characteristics are that it is "not absolute", and is created by human beings "above all" for the regulation of their actions and behaviour (but also for the ordering of things). It "has to be generally known" and "has to take into account [both] its anthropological determination and [...] its chronological determination". Man-made law is fluid, changing over time in order to adapt to changing real-world circumstances. Treatise on Law Thomas Aquinas expounded the concept of Human Law, a distinct form of law alongside Natural Law and Eternal Law, in Summa Theologica. Thomas asserted the primacy of natural law over man-made law, stating that where it "is at variance with natural law it will not be a law, but spoilt law" . The result of any such conflict is that the man-made law does "not oblige in the court of conscience" , since human law is a determinatio of divine or natural law, and a lower law cannot contradict a higher law.