[1] The European and American conception of man-made law has changed radically in the period from the Middle Ages to the present day.
In the Hegelian view, according to Mohnhaupt, man made law is Rechtsgesetze, or at least a subset thereof.
Its characteristics are that it is "not absolute", and is created by human beings "above all" for the regulation of their actions and behaviour (but also for the ordering of things).
The result of any such conflict is that the man-made law does "not oblige in the court of conscience" (ST, I–II q.
In the Summa contra Gentiles Thomas himself writes of divine positive law where he says "Si autem lex sit divinitus posita, auctoritate divina dispensatio fieri potest (If the law be divinely given, dispensation can be granted by divine authority)"[6] and "Lex autem a Deo posita est (But the Law was established by God)".
[7] Martin Luther also acknowledged the idea of divine positive law, as did Juan de Torquemada.
[9] The European and American conception of man-made law has changed radically in the period from the Middle Ages to the present day.
[10][13] Legal theory in the Soviet Union went further, not recognizing any such thing as divine or natural law, and considering the state to be sovereign.
Only man-made law, as made by the state, existed according to Marxist legal theory.