The

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 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law. The ''

Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes The ''Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes'' are the official compilation of session laws enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania is undertaking its first official codification process. It is published by the Pennsylvania Legisla ...

'' form the general statutory law.

Sources

The

Constitution of Pennsylvania The Constitution of Pennsylvania is the supreme law within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All acts of the General Assembly, the governor, and each governmental agency are subordinate to it. Since 1776, Pennsylvania's Constitution has undergone ...

is the foremost source of state law. Legislation is enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, published in the '' Laws of Pennsylvania'', and codified in the ''

''. State agency regulations (sometimes called administrative law) are published in the ''

Pennsylvania Bulletin The ''Pennsylvania Bulletin'' is a weekly journal produced by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Created on a weekly basis by staff in the Legislative Reference Bureau of Pennsylvania, which is housed at the Pennsylvania State Capitol building in ...

'' and codified in the ''

Pennsylvania Code The ''Pennsylvania Code'' is a publication of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, listing all rules, regulations, and other administrative documents from the Government of Pennsylvania. Citation Title 1 section 1.2 of the ''Pennsylvania Code'' su ...

''. Pennsylvania'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, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court, which are published in the '' Pennsylvania State Reports'' and the ''Pennsylvania Reporter''. Municipalities may also promulgate local ordinances. 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.

Constitution

The organic source of state law is the

. Although the original Constitution of Pennsylvania was ratified in 1776, more than ten years before the Constitution of the United States, the U.S. Constitution has legal supremacy in matters relating to (or, ''in pursuance thereof...'') powers delegated to the federal government in the U.S. Constitution. The people of the States are supreme and sovereign in the constitutional U.S. system. The people of the States created the federal government and delegated to it a few enumerated powers to which it is properly limited. The current Pennsylvania Constitution dates from 1968.

Legislation

Pursuant to the state constitution, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has enacted various laws, known as " slip laws". These are published in the official '' Laws of Pennsylvania'', also known as the "Pamphlet Laws" or generically as "

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 ...

". Pennsylvania is currently undertaking its first official codification process in the ''

''. They are published by the

Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mar ...

(PALRB or LRB). There are also several unofficial sources for statutes. The old, unofficial codification is '' Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes'', which is also being updated in line with the new codification as ''Purdon's Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Annotated''. In addition, there are several historic sources of session laws. The '' Pennsylvania Statutes at Large'' contain charters, laws in force and obsolete laws from 1682 through 1809; publication began in 1896 and are being digitized by the LRB. ''

Smith's Laws In geology, Smith's laws are two rules, formulated by William Smith (1769–1839), which aid in the determination of geological succession. They are fundamental to the production of geological maps. The laws Both laws were first published b ...

'' contain public laws in force from 1700 through 1829, and were published prior to the Statutes at Large, beginning in 1810.

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 ''

'' (Pa. Code). The ''

'' is the weekly

gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspaper ...

containing proposed, enacted and emergency rules and other notices and important documents. Changes in the ''Pennsylvania Code'' are made via the ''Pennsylvania Code Reporter'', a monthly loose-leaf supplement. They are compiled, edited and supplemented by the Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau.

Case law

The legal system of Pennsylvania is based on the

of England, and Pennsylvania has a

reception statute A reception statute is a statutory law adopted as a former British colony becomes independent by which the new nation adopts, or receives, the English common law before its independence to the extent not explicitly rejected by the legislative body ...

providing for the "reception" of English law. All statutes, regulations, and ordinances are subject to

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 ...

. Pursuant to common law tradition, the courts of Pennsylvania have developed a large body of case law through the decisions of the Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court. Judgment_of_Debt,_Greene_County,_Pennsylvania,_1815

Judgment_of_Debt,_Greene_County,_Pennsylvania,_1815

The official reporter for the Supreme Court is the '' Pennsylvania State Reports'' since 1845. There are no official reporters for either the Superior Court or the Commonwealth Court, but the ''Pennsylvania Reporter'' (a Pennsylvania-specific version of the ''

Atlantic Reporter The ''Atlantic Reporter'' () is a United States regional case law reporter. It is part of the National Reporter System created by John B. West for West Publishing Company, which is now part of Thomson West. The ''Atlantic Reporter'' contains ...

'') is an unofficial reporter. There is no official reporting of decisions of trial courts, but County Court (Common Pleas Court) opinions are selectively published in the ''Pennsylvania District and County Reports'' (Pa. D.&C.). Many counties also publish their own reporters which contain select trial court opinions for that county. Estate and trusts trial cases are published in the ''Fiduciary Reporter'', and local government cases (both trial and appellate) are published in ''Chrostwaite's Pennsylvania Municipal Law Reporter''. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts also posts opinions from the Supreme Court (from November 1996), Superior Court (from December 1997), and Commonwealth Court (from January 1997) on its website. Superior Court opinions were published in the '' Pennsylvania Superior Court Reports'' from 1895–1997, and Commonwealth Court opinions were published in the '' Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Reports'' from 1970–1995.

Local ordinances

Pittsburgh Code of Ordinances title page

Municipalities may enact and enforce local ordinances.

References

External links

Consolidated Statutes of Pennsylvania
from the Pennsylvania General Assembly
Unconsolidated Statutes of Pennsylvania
from the Pennsylvania General Assembly
Pennsylvania Code
from the Pennsylvania General Assembly
Pennsylvania Code
from pacode.com
Pennsylvania Bulletin
from pabulletin.com
Supreme Court opinions
from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts
Superior Court opinions
from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts
Commonwealth Court opinions
from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts
Local ordinance codes
from Public.Resource.Org * Case law: {{Authority control