The Place of Custom in French and Tunisian Law

Mădălina-Gabriela Gută – University of Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iași, Faculty of Law, Bulevardul Carol I Street no. 11, 700506 Iași, România

Abstract:  At first solitary, Homo sapiens soon realized that to survive it had to work with others. This collaboration took the form of human communities based on common interests and values. However, for society to function and develop well, in addition to a system of shared values, there must be a set of rules to guide the behaviour of community members, especially as self-interest can sometimes take precedence over the general interest. The creation of customs- unwritten rules that arise from repeated and accepted practices within the community, has not only ensured that the members of the community live well together, but has also led to its evolution. Thus, by taking a brief trip down through history, custom shows us how legal rules emerged from existing beliefs and customs within the community. So the law of a state is alive, it emerges as a result of social interactions and is not just a set of rules laid down and imposed by a particular authority. Today, it is written law that dominates, but custom continues to play a fundamental role, especially in areas where the law is ambiguous.

10th International Scientific Conference ERAZ 2024 – Conference Proceedings: KNOWLEDGE BASED SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT,  hybrid – online, virtually and in person, Lisbon, Portugal, June 6, 2024

ERAZ Conference Proceedings published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ERAZ conference partners: Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Maribor (Slovenia); University of National and World Economy – UNWE, Sofia (Bulgaria); Center for Political Research and Documentation (KEPET), Research Laboratory of the Department of Political Science of University of Crete (Greece); Institute of Public Finance – Zagreb (Croatia); Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Ohrid, University of St. Kliment Ohridski from Bitola (North Macedonia)

ERAZ Conference 2024 Conference Proceedings: ISBN 978-86-80194-86-8, ISSN 2683-5568,

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ERAZ.2024

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission. 

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