A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

) in that they are the expressed will of a legislative body, whether that be on the behalf of a country, state or province, county,

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

, or so on. Depending on the legal system, a statute may also be referred to as an "act."

Etymology

The word appears in use in English as early as the 14th century. "Statute" and earlier English spellings were derived from the Old French words ''statut'', ''estatut'', ''estatu,'' meaning "(royal) promulgation, (legal) statute." These terms were in turn derived from the Late Latin ''statutum,'' meaning "a law, decree."

Publication and organization

In virtually all countries, newly enacted statutes are published and distributed so that everyone can look up the statutory law. This can be done in the form of a

government gazette A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establish ...

, which may include other kinds of legal notices released by the government, or in the form of a series of books whose content is limited to legislative acts. In either form, statutes are traditionally published in chronological order based on date of enactment. A universal problem encountered by lawmakers throughout human history is how to organize published statutes. Such publications have a habit of starting small but growing rapidly over time, as new statutes are enacted in response to the exigencies of the moment. Eventually, persons trying to find the law are forced to sort through an enormous number of statutes enacted at various points in time to determine which portions are still in effect. The solution adopted in many countries is to organize existing statutory law in topical arrangements (or "codified") within publications called codes, then ensure that new statutes are consistently drafted so that they add, amend, repeal or move various code sections. In turn, in theory, the code will thenceforth reflect the current cumulative state of the statutory law in that jurisdiction. In many nations statutory law is distinguished from and subordinate to

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

Alternative meanings

International law

The term "statute" is also used to refer to an International

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

that establishes an

institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

, such as the Statute of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...

, a protocol to the international courts as well, such as the Statute of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

and the Rome Statute of the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

. "Statute" is also another word for law. The term was adapted from England in about the 18th century.

Autonomy statute

In the

autonomous communities of Spain The autonomous communities () are the first-level political divisions of Spain, administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Constitution of Spain, Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonom ...

, an autonomy statute is a legal document similar to the

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

of a

federated state A federated state (also State (polity), state, province, region, Canton (administrative division), canton, Länder, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation ...

, save that it is enacted by the national legislature, rather than the autonomous community it governs. The autonomy statutes in Spain have the rank of ''ley orgánica'' (organic law), a category of special legislation reserved for the main institutions and issues and mentioned in the constitution (the highest ranking legal instrument in Spain). ''Leyes orgánicas'' rank between the constitution and ordinary laws. The name was chosen, among others, to avoid confusion with the term ''constitution'' (i.e. the Spanish constitution of 1978).

Types

Public and private bills Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. A private bill is a proposal for a law affecting only a single person, group, or ar ...

Organic statute An organic law is a law, or system of laws, that form the foundation of a government, corporation or any other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law. By country France Under Article 46 of the Constitut ...

Super statute The term ''super statute'' was applied in 2001 by William Eskridge and John Ferejohn to characterize an ordinary statute whose effort "to establish a new normative or institutional framework ... 'stick in the public culture" and has "a broad effe ...

References

External links

{{Authority control Legal research Sources of law Statutory law no:Statutt