A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authority. The higher authority, generally a legislature or some other government body, establishes the degree of control that the by-laws may exercise. By-laws may be established by entities such as a business

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

, a

neighborhood association A neighborhood association (NA) is a group of residents or property owners who advocate to organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary dues. Some neighborhood associations in the United States ...

, or depending on the jurisdiction, a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and some Commonwealth countries, the local laws established by municipalities are referred to as ''by(e)-laws'' because their scope is regulated by the central governments of those nations. Accordingly, a

bylaw enforcement officer A bylaw enforcement officer (also called municipal law enforcement or municipal enforcement) is an employee of a municipality, county or regional district, charged with the enforcement of local ordinance—bylaws, laws, codes, or regulations enac ...

is the Canadian equivalent of the American Code Enforcement Officer or Municipal Regulations Enforcement Officer. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the federal government and most state governments have no direct ability to regulate the single provisions of municipal law. As a result, terms such as ''

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

'', ''

ordinance Ordinance may refer to: Law * Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission * Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet * ...

'', or ''

regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...

'', if not simply ''law'', are more common.

Etymology

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary indicates that the origin of the word by-law is from the English word ''bilawe'', probably from Old Norse ''*bȳlǫg'', from Old Norse ''bȳr'' town + ''lag-, lǫg'' law. The earliest use of the term, which originates from the Viking town law in the

Danelaw The Danelaw (, also known as the Danelagh; ang, Dena lagu; da, Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian ...

, wherein ''by'' is the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

word for a larger settlement as in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

and

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

(compare with the modern Danish-Norwegian word ''by'' meaning town, or the modern Swedish word ''by'', meaning village). Oxford English Dictionary online entry for "by-law" (subscription required) However, it is also possible that this usage was forgotten and the word was "reinvented" in modern times through the use of the adverbial prefix ''by-'' giving the meaning of subsidiary law or side-law (as in '' byway''). In either case, it is incorrect to claim that the origin of the word is simply the prepositional phrase "by law."

Municipal by-laws

Municipal by-laws are public regulatory laws which apply in a certain area. The main difference between a by-law and a law passed by a national/federal or regional/state body is that a by-law is made by a non-sovereign body, which derives its authority from another governing body, and can only be made on a limited range of matters. A local council or municipal government derives its power to pass laws through a law of the national or regional government which specifies what things the town or city may regulate through by-laws. It is therefore a form of

delegated legislation Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democ ...

. Within its jurisdiction and specific to those areas mandated by the higher body, a municipal by-law is no different from any other law of the land, and can be enforced with penalties, challenged in court and must comply with other laws of the land, such as the country's constitution. Municipal by-laws are often enforcable through the public justice system, and offenders can be charged with a

criminal offence In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

for breach of a by-law. Common by-laws include vehicle parking and stopping regulations, animal control, building and construction, licensing, noise, zoning and business regulation, and management of public recreation areas.

By-laws in Japan

Under Article 94 of the

Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan (Shinjitai: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ) is the constitution of Japan and the supreme law in the state. Written primarily by American civilian officials working under the Allied occupation of Japan, the constitution r ...

, regional governments have limited autonomy and legislative powers to create by-laws. In practice, such powers are exercised in accordance with the

Local Autonomy Law The , passed by the House of Representatives and the House of Peers on March 28, 1947 and promulgated as Law No. 67 of 1947 on April 17,Ministry of Justice, Japanese Law Translation Database SystemLocal Autonomy Act/ref> is an Act of devolution t ...

. By-laws therefore constitute part of the legal system subordinate to the Japanese constitution. In terms of its mandatory powers and effective, it is considered the lowest of all legislation possible. Such powers are used to govern the following: * Location of the seat of government of the prefecture * Frequency of routine meetings * Number of prefectural vice-governors and vice village leaders * Number of staff attached to administrative bodies governed * Placement of regional autonomous areas * Regulation of certain municipal monies * Placement, maintenance and removal of public facilities * Appointment of subordinate offices by the prefectural governor

United Kingdom

Sign in a car park in Ripon, North Yorkshire

In the United Kingdom, by-laws are laws of local or limited application made by local councils or other bodies, using powers granted by an Act of Parliament, and so are a form of delegated legislation.

Australia

Australian Law The legal system of Australia has multiple forms. It includes a written constitution, unwritten constitutional conventions, statutes, regulations, and the judicially determined common law system. Its legal institutions and traditions are substa ...

there are five types of by-law, and they are established by statute: * State government authorities create By-laws as a type of "statutory rule" under an empowering Act, and are ''made'' by the

State governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. * Local government by-laws are the most prevalent type of by-law in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and control things from

Parking Parking is the act of stopping and disengaging a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied. Parking on one or both sides of a road is often permitted, though sometimes with restrictions. Some buildings have parking facilities for use of the buildings' ...

and Alcohol in parks to fire regulations and zoning controls. In

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

these by-laws are called ''ordinances'' and

Zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

Controls are called ''Environmental Planning Instruments'' created under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. * Numerous specific institutions, including

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, are also empowered to make by-laws by their establishing legislation. * By-laws of a company or society are created as a contract among members, and must be formally adopted and/or amended. *

Strata title Strata title is a form of ownership and housing tenure devised for multi-level apartment blocks and horizontal subdivisions with shared areas. The word "strata" refers to apartments being on different levels. Strata title was first introduced ...

was developed in Australia and by-laws of body corporate are also empowered by state legislation. These are the main type of by-law most people come into contact with on a regular basis as they control what people in strata title housing can do in their own homes. The most well known of these is the "no pets in flats" rule.

Organizational by-laws

Corporate and organizational by-laws regulate only the organization to which they apply and are generally concerned with the operation of the organization, setting out the form, manner or procedure in which a company or organisation should be run. Corporate by-laws are drafted by a corporation's founders or directors under the authority of its

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

articles of incorporation Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

Typical articles

By-laws widely vary from organization to organization, but generally cover topics such as the purpose of the organization, who are its members, how directors are elected, how meetings are conducted, and what officers the organization will have and a description of their duties. A common mnemonic device for remembering the typical articles in by-laws is NOMOMECPA, pronounced "No mommy, see pa!" It stands for name, object, members, officers, meetings, executive board, committees, parliamentary authority, amendment. Organizations may use a book such as ''

Robert's Rules of Order ''Robert's Rules of Order'', often simply referred to as ''Robert's Rules'', is a manual of parliamentary procedure by U.S. Army officer Henry Martyn Robert. "The object of Rules of Order is to assist an assembly to accomplish the work for which ...

'' ''Newly Revised'' for guidelines on the content of their by-laws. This book has a sample set of by-laws of the type that a small, independent society might adopt. The wording of the by-laws has to be precise. Otherwise, the meaning may be open to interpretation. In such cases, the organization decides how to interpret its by-laws and may use guidelines for interpretation.

Amendment

Usually one of the last sections in the by-laws describes the procedures for amending them. It describes who can amend them (usually the membership, but it could be the organization's

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

), how much notice is needed, and how much of a vote is needed. A typical requirement is a

two-thirds vote A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

provided that

previous notice In parliamentary procedure, a motion is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action. Such motions, and the form they take are specified by the deliberate assembly and/or a pre-agreed volume detaili ...

was given or a majority of all the members.

Relation to other governing documents

parliamentary procedure Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or t ...

, including ''Robert's Rules of Order'', the by-laws are generally the supreme governing document of an

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

, superseded only by the

of an incorporated

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

. The by-laws contain the most fundamental principles and rules regarding the nature of the organization. It was once common practice for organizations to have two separate governing documents, a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

and by-laws, but this has fallen out of favor because of the ease of use, increased clarity, and reduced chance of conflict inherent in a single, unified document. This single document, while properly referred to as the by-laws, is often referred to as a ''constitution'' or a ''constitution and by-laws''. Unless otherwise provided by law, the organization does not formally exist until by-laws have been adopted.

Application to organizations

Unions

In some countries,

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s generally have

s, which govern activities of the international office of the union as well as how it interfaces with its locals. The locals themselves can set up their own by-laws to set out internal rules for how to conduct activities. In other countries, such as the

, union by-laws are sometimes a subset of the union's constitution or implement the union's rules in more detail.

Nonprofit organizations

Nonprofit organizations in the United States applying for Federal Tax-Exemption Status are required to adopt bylaws for their organizations. Bylaws for nonprofit organizations by themselves are more of an internal organizing document than required by most states but are necessary for filing for nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exemption application using the Form 1023.

References

{{Authority control Administrative law Parliamentary procedure Organizational documents Law