# Sources of Law and Temporal Validity Business I · Business Law · https://tryals.app/learn/business-i/sources-of-law-and-temporal-validity ## The Life Cycle of a Norm A law is not born when politicians shake hands. It follows a strict life cycle with distinct legal consequences at every step. | Stage | Legal effect | | --- | --- | | **Enactment** | Parliament passes it; text exists, binds no one yet | | **Publication** | Appears in the **Official Gazette (BOE)**; ignorance no longer excuses | | **Entry into force** | The norm starts applying | | **Repeal** | Later law displaces the old rule | **Vacatio legis:** By default, a **20-day grace period** runs between publication and entry into force so people can adapt. **Common pitfall:** Assuming the 20-day **vacatio legis** is universal. It is only a default; a norm can enter into force immediately or months later. Always check the final provisions first. ## Temporal Validity & Repeal Norms die by **express repeal** (the new law lists what it kills) or **tacit repeal** (incompatibility). Laws never lapse from mere disuse. **Non-retroactivity:** The Constitution guarantees that norms govern only the **future**. You cannot be sanctioned under a rule that did not exist when you acted. **Exception:** **Favorable retroactivity** is allowed, meaning a lighter penalty can reach back in time. **Business planning:** Contracts are judged by the law in force **when concluded**, and taxes by their accrual period. **Transitional provisions** dictate which situations follow the old rule versus the new. ## Practice questions 7 of this lesson's 14 practice questions, with answers. The full set is in the app. ### 1. Order the life cycle of a statute. **Answer:** 1. Parliament approves the text 2. Sanction and promulgation 3. Publication in the Official Gazette 4. Vacatio legis runs 5. Entry into force, the norm binds **Why:** Approval → promulgation → publication → vacatio → force. Each arrow is a legal threshold, not a formality: skip publication and the "law" binds no one. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/sources-of-law-and-temporal-validity/order-the-life-cycle-of-a-statute ### 2. Match each term to its definition. **Answer:** - Vacatio legis → The gap between publication and force - Promulgation → Formal proclamation that a law exists - Tacit repeal → Death by contradiction with a newer equal norm - Transitional provision → Rules bridging old situations and new law **Why:** The vocabulary of a norm’s birth, life, and death, plus the bridge clauses that manage the change of guard. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/sources-of-law-and-temporal-validity/match-each-term-to-its-definition ### 3. A new tax law is published in January, takes effect in April, and is applied to income earned the previous year. Why is that controversial? A. Because a law cannot take effect later than its publication date B. Because tax laws must always enter into force on the first of January C. It is retroactive, attaching consequences to completed acts D. Because the *vacatio legis* period was too short to be valid **Answer:** C. It is retroactive, attaching consequences to completed acts **Why:** Publication and *vacatio legis* exist so people can know the rule before acting on it, and retroactivity destroys exactly that. Spanish law bans it outright for sanctions and restrictions of rights, treating milder tax retroactivity case by case. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/sources-of-law-and-temporal-validity/a-new-tax-law-is-published-in-january-takes-effect-in-april-and-is ### 4. Which statements about retroactivity are correct? A. Punitive norms can never reach back to punish past acts B. Any law can freely declare itself fully retroactive, whatever it restricts C. A lighter penalty can apply retroactively in the offender’s favor D. By default, new norms govern only future situations **Answer:** A. Punitive norms can never reach back to punish past acts; C. A lighter penalty can apply retroactively in the offender’s favor; D. By default, new norms govern only future situations **Why:** Non-retroactivity of punitive and restrictive norms is a constitutional guarantee, the one direction time’s arrow cannot be reversed. Favorable retroactivity is the humane exception. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/sources-of-law-and-temporal-validity/which-statements-about-retroactivity-are-correct ### 5. A law that has not been published in the Official Gazette does not bind citizens, however widely it is known. **Answer:** True **Why:** True. Publication is a condition of a norm taking effect, not a courtesy, art. 9.3 of the Constitution guarantees *publicidad de las normas*. Actual knowledge does not substitute, because the guarantee protects everyone's ability to know the law in advance rather than any individual's awareness of it. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/sources-of-law-and-temporal-validity/a-law-that-has-not-been-published-in-the-official-gazette-does-not ### 6. Complete the default rule of temporal validity. **Answer:** If a law is silent, it enters into force **twenty** days after **publication** in the Official Gazette. **Why:** Twenty days from publication, not from approval, which by itself binds no one. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/sources-of-law-and-temporal-validity/complete-the-default-rule-of-temporal-validity ### 7. A company plans around a legal reform. Order its correct reasoning. **Answer:** 1. Find the publication date in the Gazette 2. Check the norm’s own entry-into-force provision 3. Apply the 20-day default if it is silent 4. Read the transitional provisions for ongoing situations 5. Classify each contract as old-law or new-law **Why:** Publication → force date → default rule → transitions → classification: the checklist that turns a reform from headline into planning. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/sources-of-law-and-temporal-validity/a-company-plans-around-a-legal-reform-order-its-correct-reasoning