Which statement best describes primary law in a typical jurisdiction?

• A. Cases, Constitutions, Statutes, Treatises, Executive Orders, and Administrative Regulations
• B. Legal articles from law reviews
• C. Administrative regulations only
• D. Court opinions from other states

Answer: (A)

Primary law consists of the binding sources that create or authorize legal rules within a jurisdiction. These include cases (court decisions that interpret and apply the law), constitutions (the fundamental framework and rights), statutes (laws enacted by the legislature), executive orders (directions from the executive with force of law in appropriate contexts), and administrative regulations (rules issued by agencies that have binding effect). This set captures the main categories that actually bind you in practice.

Treatises are typically secondary sources; they analyze and explain primary law rather than binding rules themselves. Law reviews are also secondary. The other options rely on a narrower slice—only articles, only administrative regulations, or non-binding court opinions from other states—which do not represent the full array of binding sources in a typical jurisdiction.