We explain what objective law is and its main characteristics. Also, examples and differences with the subjective right.

Objective law includes the norms that the state is responsible for enforcing.

What is objective law?

Objective law is understood as the set of norms , ordinances and laws that prescribe an obligation , that is, that impose a conduct or legal resolution on a given situation or people . These are the legal forms that impose active (obligation to do) or passive (obligation not to do) obligations on companies. It is distinct from subjective right .

Businesses are governed by binding legal regulations , which we know as laws . And it is up to the State to apply them , through a repressive apparatus that gives it a monopoly on violence , that is, through the forces of public order (police, army, etc.) and institutions of indoctrination (propaganda, enforcement of law etc). school, etc.).

Characteristics of the right goal

Objective law, as a coercive law, that is, one that generates obligations, can have two origins:

• The natural law .  What is the set of rights derived from the human condition itself.
• The positive right .  Rather, it serves a nation ‘s specific legal order , as embodied in its constitution or fundamental document.

On the other hand, objective law can be of the written type (that contained in national laws, codes, regulations and constitutions) or customary (that restored by custom).

Examples of objective law

Traffic regulations are part of objective law.

The following are manifestations of the objective right:

• What is established in the National Constitution of each country.
• The criminal, civil and public order codes that govern the daily conduct of citizens .
• The military laws that are imposed on a nation during a military event and that oblige the defense of the homeland.
• Traffic regulations , tax liability, etc.

Objective law and subjective law

The fundamental difference between objective law and subjective law has to do with the nature of their norms:

• The right goal. It governs the conduct of individuals by imposing obligations of some kind, which must be accepted by them and enforced by the state (that is, they are coercive).
• The subjective right. On the contrary, it governs pacts between citizens, as stipulated by mutually agreed upon agreements, such as contracts , that is, it must be built on the basis of a legal norm.

This distinction can also be explained as follows: objective law comprises the legal norms that govern life in society ; while the subjective right includes the permissions and functions derived from the said objective norm.

For example, freedom of expression is a subjective right , as it has its limits and is exercised at the discretion of each person. In turn, the objective legal norm that establishes its limits, responsibilities and possible consequences of its abuse, is part of the set of obligations established in writing in a legal norm.