English

Noun

law of the land

1. (law) A particular law or the complete set of laws currently in effect within a jurisdiction, especially with emphasis on the official and authoritative nature of such law.
   • 1724, Jonathan Swift, The Drapier's Letters, Appendix 4:

     Besides it must be remembered that precedents in some cases will not excuse a judge, even where they are according to the undoubted law of the land.

   • 1836, Charles Dickens, Sketches by Boz, ch. 7:

     Hackney-coaches are part and parcel of the law of the land; they were settled by the Legislature; plated and numbered by the wisdom of Parliament.

   • 1873, Mark Twain, and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age, ch. 29:

     He confessed that neither he nor any citizen had a right to consult his own feelings or conscience in a case where a law of the land had been violated before his own eyes.

   • 1915, E. Phillips Oppenheim, An Amiable Charlatan, ch. 14:

     I am on the side of the established authorities. I am in the cast-iron position of the man who falls into line with the law of the land.

   • 2004, David Nobbs, Sex and Other Changes, p. 95:

     "I'm dressed as a woman, but I am still technically a man. I believe that to comply with the law of the land I ought to continue to use the Gents', but in order not to look out place I intend to use the Ladies' from now on. I trust none of you will grass on me..."

   • 2013 Sept. 24, Manny Fernandez, "In Corner of Arkansas, Frustration but No Panic Over Possible Shutdown," New York Times (retrieved 17 Nov 2013):

     "A lot of other people don’t like it. But what’s law is law and you abide by the law of the land."

References

• law of the land at OneLook Dictionary Search