An accepted although informal rule of behavior, as in It's an unwritten law that you lock the gate when you leave the swimming pool. [Mid-1400s]
| Idioms: unwritten law |
An accepted although informal rule of behavior, as in It's an unwritten law that you lock the gate when you leave the swimming pool. [Mid-1400s]
| Law Encyclopedia: Unwritten Law |
Unwritten rules, principles, and norms that have the effect and force of law though they have not been formally enacted by the government.
Most laws in America are written. The U.S. Code, the Code of Federal Regulations, and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are three examples of written laws that are frequently cited in federal court. Each state has a similar body of written laws. By contrast, unwritten law consists of those customs, traditions, practices, usages, and other maxims of human conduct that the government has recognized and enforced.
Unwritten law is most commonly found in primitive societies where illiteracy is prevalent. Because many residents in such societies cannot read or write, there is little point in publishing written laws to govern their conduct. Instead, societal disputes in primitive societies are resolved informally, through appeal to unwritten maxims of fairness or popularly accepted modes of behavior. Litigants present their claims orally in most primitive societies, and judges announce their decisions in the same fashion. The governing body in primitive societies typically enforces the useful traditions that are widely practiced in the community, while those practices that are novel or harmful fall into disuse or are discouraged.
Much of international law is a form of primitive unwritten law. For centuries the rules of war governing hostilities between belligerents consisted of a body of unwritten law. While some of these rules have been codified by international bodies such as the United Nations, many have not. For example, retaliatory reprisals against acts of terrorism by a foreign government are still governed by unwritten customs in the international community. Each nation also retains discretion in formulating a response to the aggressive acts of a neighboring state.
In the United States, unwritten law takes on a variety of forms. In constitutional law the Supreme Court has ruled that the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution protects the right to privacy even though the word privacy is not mentioned in the written text of the Constitution. In commercial law the Uniform Commercial Code permits merchants to resolve legal disputes by introducing evidence of unwritten customs, practices, and usages that others in the same trade generally follow. The entire body of common law, comprising cases decided by judges on matters relating to torts and contracts, among other things, is said to reflect unwritten standards that have evolved over time. In each case, however, once a court, legislature, or other government body formally adopts a standard, principle, or maxim in writing, it ceases to be an unwritten law.
See: case law; trade usage.
| Album Review: Unwritten Law |




| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Harmonic (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law | (3:42) | |
| Teenage Suicide (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law, |
Unwritten Law | (2:41) |
| Sorry (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law, |
Unwritten Law | (2:27) |
| California Sky (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law | (3:00) | |
| Cailin (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law | (3:56) | |
| Lonesome (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law, |
Unwritten Law | (3:24) |
| Coffin Text (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law, |
Unwritten Law | (2:59) |
| Holiday (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law, |
Unwritten Law | (2:56) |
| Underground (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law | (3:10) | |
| Close Your Eyes (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law, |
Unwritten Law | (2:41) |
| Before I Go (Lyrics) | Unwritten Law | (4:25) | |
| Genocide/418 | Unwritten Law | (9:11) |
| WordNet: unwritten law |
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
law based on customary behavior
| Wikipedia: Unwritten Law (album) |
| Unwritten Law | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
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| Studio album by Unwritten Law | ||||
| Released | June 2, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | July–August 1997 at London Bridge Studios, Seattle September 1997 at Studio West, San Diego |
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| Genre | Punk rock | |||
| Length | 44:37 | |||
| Label | Interscope | |||
| Producer | Rick Parashar | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
| Unwritten Law chronology | ||||
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Unwritten Law is the third album by the San Diego-based punk rock band Unwritten Law, released in 1998 by Interscope Records. It gained the band international attention with the success of singles "Lonesome" and "Cailin." Due to the departure of original bassist John Bell the previous year, Micah Albao filled in with the band on bass for the recording of the album. Shortly after its recording Pat "PK" Kim joined the band as their new permanent bass player.
The song "Cailin" was written for singer Scott Russo's daughter and is named after her. Beginning with the supporting tours for the album it became common for Russo to bring her onstage and sing the song directly to her, especially at the band's shows in San Diego where Russo and his family live. The song "418" is a "hidden track" that, although it is listed on the album sleeve, has no track separator to separate it from the preceding song "Genocide." It is named because it appears 4 minutes and 18 seconds into the playing time of track 12. The song features a guest appearance by Brandon Boyd and Mike Einziger of Incubus.
Contents |
All lyrics written by Scott Russo except where noted, all music composed by Unwritten Law (Scott Russo, Steve Morris, Rob Brewer, and Wade Youman).
| # | Title | Length | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Harmonic" (Russo, Brewer) | 3:42 | |||||||
| 2. | "Teenage Suicide" | 2:50 | |||||||
| 3. | "Sorry" | 2:58 | |||||||
| 4. | "California Sky" (Russo, Youman) | 3:00 | |||||||
| 5. | "Cailin" | 3:56 | |||||||
| 6. | "Lonesome" | 3:24 | |||||||
| 7. | "Coffin Text" | 2:59 | |||||||
| 8. | "Holiday" | 2:56 | |||||||
| 9. | "Underground" (Russo, Youman, Brewer) | 3:10 | |||||||
| 10. | "Close Your Eyes" | 2:41 | |||||||
| 11. | "Before I Go" (Russo, Youman, Morris) | 4:25 | |||||||
| 12. | "Genocide" "418" (Russo, Brandon Boyd; hidden track) |
9:11 | |||||||
| 44:37 | |||||||||
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| case law | |
| trade usage | |
| Davenport, Charles (Quotes By) |
| Why is common law said to be unwritten? | |
| What is the name of an unwritten law in sociology? | |
| Who has an unwritten constitution based on laws? |
Copyrights:
![]() | Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Law Encyclopedia. West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Copyright © 1998 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Unwritten Law (album)". Read more |
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