''Lex scripta'' pl. ''leges scriptae'' is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

expression that means "written or

statutory law 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 legi ...

". It is in contrast to ''

lex non scripta ''Lex non scripta'' is a Latin expression that means "'law not written'" or "'unwritten law'". It is a term that embraces all the laws which do not come under the definition of written law or "''lex scripta''" and it is composed, principally, of ...

'', customary or common law. The term originates from the Roman legal tradition.

Emperor Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

divides the ''lex scripta'' into several categories: *Statutes *Plebiscita *Senatorial Decrees *The Decisions of the Emperors *Orders of the Magistrates *Answers of Jurisconsults ''Lex scripta'' has a lasting effect that can define a legal tradition for a culture such as that found in the ''

Corpus Juris Civilis The ''Corpus Juris'' (or ''Iuris'') ''Civilis'' ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. It is also sometimes referred ...

'',

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by th ...

Tang Code The ''Tang Code'' () was a penal code that was established and used during the Tang Dynasty in China. Supplemented by civil statutes and regulations, it became the basis for later dynastic codes not only in China but elsewhere in East Asia. The Co ...

, or a country's

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 entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princi ...

See also