unwritten law

noun

law based on customary behavior

• Hypernyms: ↑practice, ↑pattern

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noun

1. : law (as the common law of England or the United States) originating in custom or otherwise than as formally made and declared by the sovereign legislative power and not committed to writing at its origin

2. : the custom of granting a measure of immunity to persons guilty of certain criminal acts justified in the eyes of the public especially in avenging injury to family honor arising from seduction or adultery — usually used with the

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1. a law that rests for its authority on custom, judicial decision, etc., as distinguished from law originating in written command, statute, or decree.

2. the unwritten law, the supposed principle of the right of the individual to avenge wrongs against personal or family honor, esp. in cases involving relations between the sexes: sometimes urged in justification of persons guilty of criminal acts of vengeance.

[1635-45]

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unwritten law,

1. law that is based on custom or on decisions of judges, rather than on written commands, decrees, statutes, and other written records; (English) common law.

2. the principle that a person who commits certain crimes, especially those which avenge personal or family honor, is entitled to lenient treatment.