Statutes

Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, written in Polish

A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. Typically, statutes command, prohibit, or declare policy. Statutes are sometimes referred to as legislation or "black letter law."

In many countries, published statutes are organized in topical arrangements called codes, such as the United States Code. In the United States, statutory law is distinguished from and subordinate to constitutional law.

Alternative meanings

International law

The term statute is sometimes also used to refer to an International treaty that establishes an institution, such as the Statute of the European Central Bank, a protocol to the Treaty of Maastricht. This includes international courts as well, such as the Statute of the International Court of Justice and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Statute is also another word for law. The term was adapted from England an about the 18 century.

Biblical terminology

In biblical terminology, a Statute (Hebrew chok) refers to a law given without a reason. The classic example is the Statute regarding the Red Heifer, which, legend has it, defied even the wisdom of King Solomon.

The opposite of a chok is a mishpat, a law given for a specified reason, e.g. the Sabbath laws, which were given because "God created the world in six days, but on the seventh day He rested".　(Genesis 2:2-3)

Autonomy Statute

In the Autonomous Communities of Spain the Autonomy Statute is a legal document similar in all but name to a state constitution in a federal state. The name was chosen because federalism was a taboo subject when the constitution of 1978 was approved.

See also

• Organic statute

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Statutes are laws created by elected representatives in Congress or a state legislature.

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