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 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 ...

is the foremost source of state law. Legislation is enacted by the

Florida Legislature The Florida Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. State of Florida. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article III, Section 1 of the Florida Cons ...

, 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 ''

''. 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 Exter ...

'' (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 omnipresen ...

, 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 ordinance A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government. such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like. China In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () af ...

s. 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

has enacted

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

, called "chapter laws" or generically as "

slip law In the United States, a slip law is an individual Act of Congress which is either a public law (Pub.L.) or a private law (Pvt.L.). They are part of a three-part model for publication of federal statutes consisting of slip laws, session laws, and ...

s" when printed separately. These are in turn compiled into the ''

'' 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 ''

'' 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

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 r ...

. 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. For ...

s (sometimes called

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of Forms of government, government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are gener ...

). The regulations are codified in the ''

'' (FAC). The ''

'' (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

, which is interpreted by

case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a l ...

through the decisions of the

Supreme Court of Florida The Supreme Court of Florida is the highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven members: the chief justice and six justices. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geographic diversity, and one ...

, Florida District Courts of Appeal, and Florida circuit courts. There is no official

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. Opinions of the Supreme Court and District Courts of Appeal are published in the ''Florida Cases'' (a Florida-specific version of the ''

'') 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 incompat ...

, 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

s. 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 An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

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 Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party ...

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."

References

External links

Florida Statutes
from the

Sunshine Statutes
(Florida Statutes) from the

Florida Society of News Editors 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 th ...

and

First Amendment Foundation First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

Florida Administrative Code
from 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 the ...

Laws of Florida
from the Florida Department of State
Florida Administrative Register
from the Florida Department of State
Local ordinance codes
from

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

Sources

Constitution

Legislation

Regulations

Common law and case law

Local ordinances

Other

Unique features

See also

Topics

Other

References

Further reading

External links