Statute

A statute is a law.

It is written down. It can tell people what to do. It can also say what not to do. Laws come from a group of leaders. These leaders make rules for a land. They write them in books. This helps everyone see the rules. Some laws are put into groups. These groups are called codes. This makes the laws easy to find. Rules help people live together.

A statute is a written law.

It is made by a group of leaders. This group is called a legislature. A statute can command people to do things. It can also tell people what they cannot do. In some places, people call a statute an "act."

Lawmakers must share these laws with everyone. They may print them in books. They may also put them in a government gazette. A gazette is a paper for legal news. Most laws are listed by the date they were made.

Over time, there are many laws. This makes it hard to find them. To fix this, many countries use codes. A code is a way to group laws by topic. This helps people find the rules they need.

Sometimes, the word statute is used in other ways. In international law, a statute can be a treaty. A treaty is a formal deal between nations. Some universities also use the word for their own rules.

These rules help the school run well.

A statute is a formal written law.

It is made by a group called a legislature. This group speaks for a country or a state. A statute can command people to do something. It can also tell people what they cannot do. Some people call these laws "acts."

Statutes are different from other types of law. They are not the same as unwritten laws. They are also different from rules made by executive bodies. These other rules are called secondary legislation.

Lawmakers must share new laws with everyone. This helps people look up the rules. They might publish them in a government gazette. A gazette is a paper for legal news. They might also print them in special books. These books only contain legislative acts. Most laws are listed in order by their date. This shows which laws came first.

Organizing laws can be a hard job. New laws are made all the time. This makes the list of laws grow very fast. It can be hard to find the right rule. People might have to search through many old laws. They must see which parts are still in use. Many countries solve this by using codes. A code groups laws by their topic.

This makes the law easier to use.

Laws have a long history in the English language. The word appeared as early as the 14th century. It comes from Old French words. Those words meant a legal statute or a royal decree. The words came from a Late Latin word. That word was "statutum." In some places, statutes have a special rank. In Spain, they are called "ley orgánica." These rank between a constitution and ordinary laws.

Sometimes the word statute means something else. In international law, it can mean a treaty. A treaty is a deal between different nations. For example, there is the Rome Statute. This belongs to the International Criminal Court. Some universities also use this word. They use it for their own rules or by-laws. In the United Kingdom, they may need permission to change them.

A statute is a formal, written enactment of a law. It is created by a legislative body. This body might represent a whole country or a smaller area. Such areas include a state, a province, a county, or a municipality.

Statutes serve specific purposes in a society. They can declare a rule, command an action, or prohibit a certain behavior. In many legal systems, people also refer to a statute as an "act."

It is important to distinguish statutes from other types of law. Statutes represent the expressed will of the legislature. They are different from unwritten law, which is also known as common law. They are also distinct from secondary legislation. Secondary legislation consists of regulations issued by an executive body. These bodies only issue regulations because a statute gives them the authority to do so.

Lawmakers must ensure that people can access the laws that govern them. In almost all countries, newly enacted statutes are published and distributed. This allows citizens to look up the statutory law. One way to do this is through a government gazette. A gazette is a publication that includes legal notices and other government information. Statutes may also be printed in series of books. These books contain only legislative acts. Traditionally, these publications list statutes in chronological order based on their date of enactment.

Organizing these laws presents a universal problem for lawmakers. As time passes, the number of statutes grows rapidly. This happens because new statutes are often made to respond to specific needs or exigencies. Eventually, the collection of laws becomes enormous. People trying to find the law must sort through many different enactments. They must determine which specific parts of those laws are still in effect.

To solve this, many countries use a method called codification. Instead of just a long list of dates, they organize laws into topical arrangements. These organized collections are called codes. When new statutes are drafted, they are written to interact with these existing codes. A new statute might add to a code, amend a section, or repeal a rule. It might also move a section to a different place. In theory, this ensures the code reflects the current state of the law in that jurisdiction.

The history of the word "statute" is quite old. It has been used in the English language since the 14th century. The word comes from Old French terms like *statut*, *estatut*, or *estatu*. These French words meant a legal statute or a royal promulgation. These terms were derived from the Late Latin word *statutum*. This Latin word meant a decree or a law.

In certain contexts, the word "statute" takes on different meanings. In international law, a statute can refer to an international treaty. These treaties often establish important institutions. Examples include the Statute of the European Central Bank. Other examples are the Statute of the International Court of Justice and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The term was adapted from English in about the 18th century for these uses.

Different regions also use the term in unique ways. In the autonomous communities of Spain, an autonomy statute is a special legal document. It is similar to a constitution for a federated state. However, the national legislature enacts it rather than the community it governs. In Spain, these have the rank of *ley orgánica*, or organic law. These laws rank between the constitution and ordinary laws. They are used for main institutions and issues mentioned in the constitution. Finally, some universities, especially in the United Kingdom, use the term for their by-laws. Changing these university statutes may require permission from the Privy Council.