The law of Florida consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory
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 ...
, as well as case law and local law. The ''
Florida Statutes
The ''Florida Statutes'' are the codified, statutory laws of Florida; it currently has 48 titles. A chapter in the Florida Statutes represents all of the relevant statutory law on a particular subject. The statutes are the selected reproduction of ...
'' form the general statutory law of
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
Sources
The
Constitution of Florida is the foremost source of state law. Legislation is enacted by the
Florida Legislature, published in the ''
Laws of Florida
The Laws of Florida are the session laws of the Florida Legislature, a verbatim publication of the general and special laws enacted by the Florida Legislature in a given year and published each year following the regular session of the legislature. ...
'', and codified in the ''
Florida Statutes
The ''Florida Statutes'' are the codified, statutory laws of Florida; it currently has 48 titles. A chapter in the Florida Statutes represents all of the relevant statutory law on a particular subject. The statutes are the selected reproduction of ...
''. State agencies publish regulations (sometimes called administrative law) in the ''
Florida Administrative Register
The ''Florida Administrative Register'' (FAR) is the daily publication containing proposed rules and notices of state agencies of Florida.
See also
* '' Florida Administrative Code''
* Law of Florida
* ''Federal Register''
References
Exte ...
'' (FAR), which are in turn codified in the ''
Florida Administrative Code The Florida Administrative Code (FAC) is the official compilation of the rules and regulations of Florida regulatory agencies.
See also
* Florida Administrative Register
* Law of Florida
References
External links
Florida Administrative Cod ...
'' (FAC). Florida's legal system is based on
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...
, which is interpreted by case law through the decisions of the Supreme Court, District Courts of Appeal, and Circuit Courts, which are published in the ''Florida Cases'', ''
Southern Reporter
The ''Southern Reporter'', the ''Southern Reporter Second'', and the ''Southern Reporter Third'' are United States regional case law reporters. It is part of the National Reporter System created by John B. West for the West Publishing Company.
T ...
'', ''Florida Law Weekly'', and ''Florida Law Weekly Supplement''. Counties and municipalities may also promulgate
local ordinances. There are also several sources of persuasive authority, which are not binding authority but are useful to lawyers and judges insofar as they help to clarify the current state of the law.
Constitution
The
Florida Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Florida is the document that establishes and describes the powers, duties, structure, and function of the government of the U.S. state of Florida, and establishes the basic law of the state. The current Constitu ...
(the
state constitution) defines how the statutes must be passed into law, and defines the limits of authority and basic law that acts of the legislature must comply with.
Legislation
Pursuant to the state constitution, the
Florida Legislature has enacted
legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...
, called "chapter laws" or generically as "
slip laws" when printed separately. These are in turn compiled into the ''
Laws of Florida
The Laws of Florida are the session laws of the Florida Legislature, a verbatim publication of the general and special laws enacted by the Florida Legislature in a given year and published each year following the regular session of the legislature. ...
'' and are called "
session laws
Session laws are the collection of statutes enacted by a legislature during a single session of that legislature, often published following the end of the session as a bound volume. The United States Statutes at Large are an example of session l ...
".
The ''
Florida Statutes
The ''Florida Statutes'' are the codified, statutory laws of Florida; it currently has 48 titles. A chapter in the Florida Statutes represents all of the relevant statutory law on a particular subject. The statutes are the selected reproduction of ...
'' are the
codified statutory laws
Statutory law or statute law is written law passed by a body of legislature. This is opposed to oral or customary law; or regulatory law promulgated by the executive or common law of the judiciary. Statutes may originate with national, state leg ...
of the state.
The Florida Constitution defines how the statutes must be passed into law, and defines the limits of authority and basic law that the Florida Statutes must be complied with. Laws are approved by the
Florida Legislature and signed into law by the
Governor of Florida
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 ...
. Certain types of laws are prohibited by the state constitution.
Regulations
Pursuant to certain statutes, state agencies have promulgated bodies of
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. Fo ...
s (sometimes called
administrative law
Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regulations"), ad ...
). The regulations are codified in the ''
Florida Administrative Code The Florida Administrative Code (FAC) is the official compilation of the rules and regulations of Florida regulatory agencies.
See also
* Florida Administrative Register
* Law of Florida
References
External links
Florida Administrative Cod ...
'' (FAC).
The ''
Florida Administrative Register
The ''Florida Administrative Register'' (FAR) is the daily publication containing proposed rules and notices of state agencies of Florida.
See also
* '' Florida Administrative Code''
* Law of Florida
* ''Federal Register''
References
Exte ...
'' (FAR) is the daily publication containing proposed rules and notices of state agencies.
There are also numerous decisions, opinions and rulings of state agencies.
Common law and case law
Florida's legal system is based on
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...
, which is interpreted by
case law through the
decisions of the
Supreme Court of Florida,
Florida District Courts of Appeal, and
Florida circuit courts. There is no official
reporter. Opinions of the Supreme Court and District Courts of Appeal are published in the ''Florida Cases'' (a Florida-specific version of the ''
Southern Reporter
The ''Southern Reporter'', the ''Southern Reporter Second'', and the ''Southern Reporter Third'' are United States regional case law reporters. It is part of the National Reporter System created by John B. West for the West Publishing Company.
T ...
'') and ''Florida Law Weekly''.
Appellate and trial court opinions of the
Florida circuit courts and County Courts are published in the ''Florida Law Weekly Supplement''.
The ''Florida Reports'' published opinions of the court from 1846–1948.
Florida courts practice
judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incomp ...
, which means certain laws and regulations can be struck down (ruled unconstitutional) by the Florida
state courts. The Florida Constitution, in Article V, Section 2(a), vests the power to adopt rules for the "practice and procedure in all courts" in the Florida Supreme Court, which has adopted the
Florida Rules of Civil Procedure The Florida Constitution, in Article V, Section 2(a), vests the power to adopt rules for the "practice and procedure in all courts" in the Florida Supreme Court. The Florida Supreme Court adopted the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure in March 1954. ...
. Although Title VI of the Florida Statutes is labeled "Civil Practice and Procedure", the statutes it contains are limited to only issues of substantive law.
Local ordinances
Florida's counties and municipalities may also promulgate
local ordinances. Municipal ordinances take precedence over conflicting non-charter county ordinances, whereas ordinances of charter counties may prevail in specific circumstances defined in the charters.
Other
In addition, there are also several sources of persuasive authority, which are not binding authority but are useful to lawyers and judges insofar as they help to clarify the current state of the law. ''Florida Jurisprudence'' is a major legal
encyclopedia.
Unique features
Sovereign immunity
Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine whereby a sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution, strictly speaking in modern texts in its own courts. A similar, stronger ...
laws ensure that action cannot be brought against the Florida government for more than $200,000, with an exception for
breach of contract cases.
Specifically, section 768.28, Florida Statutes, is a limited waiver of the state's sovereign immunity. It provides that neither the state nor its agencies or subdivisions is liable to pay a tort claim or a judgment by any one person over $100,000 or any claim or judgment over $200,000, when totaled with all other claims paid by the state or its agencies or subdivisions arising out of the same incident. The Supreme Court recognized the exception for breach of contract cases.
[''Pan-Am Tobacco v. Department of Corrections'', 471 So.2d 4 (Fla. 1984).] The Court noted that the statutory waiver of sovereign immunity is related to torts and there is no analogous waiver in contract, but that the Legislature, by law, had authorized state entities to enter into contracts, so "the legislature has clearly intended that such contracts be valid and binding on both parties."
See also
Topics
*
Capital punishment in Florida
*
Felony murder rule (Florida)
Murder in Florida constitutes the intentional killing, under circumstances defined by law, of people within or under the jurisdiction of the U.S. state of Florida.
Generally
In Florida, a person is guilty of first-degree murder when it is perpetra ...
*
Gun laws in Florida
Gun laws in Florida regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of Florida in the United States.
Summary table
State constitutional provisions
Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of Florida states: ...
*
Cannabis in Florida
Cannabis in Florida is illegal for recreational use. Possession of up to is a misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $1000, and the suspension of one's driver's license. Several cities and counties have enacte ...
*
LGBT rights in Florida
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of Florida are largely considered to be socially liberal compared to other states, and LGBT residents enjoy most of the same rights as non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual a ...
*
Florida property law
Other
*
Politics of Florida
*
List of law enforcement agencies in Florida
This is a list of Law Enforcement Agencies in the state of Florida.
According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics' 2018 ''Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies,'' the state had 373 law enforcement agencies employing 47,177 swo ...
*
Crime in Florida
*
List of Florida state prisons
*
Incarceration in Florida
*
Law of the United States
The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as v ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
Florida Statutesfrom the
Florida LegislatureSunshine Statutes(Florida Statutes) from the
Florida Society of News Editors and
First Amendment FoundationFlorida Administrative Codefrom the
Florida Department of State
The Secretary of State of Florida is an executive officer of the state government of the U.S. state of Florida, established since the original 1838 state constitution. Like the corresponding officials in other states, the original charge of th ...
Laws of Floridafrom the Florida Department of State
Florida Administrative Registerfrom the Florida Department of State
Local ordinance codesfrom
Public.Resource.Org
Public.Resource.Org (PRO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to publishing and sharing public domain materials in the United States and internationally. It was founded by Carl Malamud and is based in Sebastopol, California.
Public.Re ...
*Case law:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Florida Law
State law in the United States
Government of Florida