STATUTE

6 definitions found across Law Mind sources

STATUTEAuthored
The Law Mind • 1400 words
Definition
A statute is a written law formally enacted by a legislative body — a legislature, parliament, or congress — expressing the will of that body in the form required by the applicable constitutional or procedural framework. In the American legal system, statutes are the product of Congress at the federal level and of state legislatures at the state level. They are the primary mode by which legislatures create, modify, or repeal legal rules, as distinguished from judge-made common law and equitable doctrine developed by courts over time. A statute typically takes effect upon passage and executive signature (or legislative override), and operates prospectively unless the legislature expressly provides otherwise. Once codified, statutes are organized by subject matter into codes or compilations; prior to codification, they exist as session laws in chronological form. The term is also used more broadly to describe any formal written rule enacted by a governing authority, including a corporate charter, university regulation, or royal decree — though this usage is now largely historical in American legal contexts.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A written law or ordinance passed by a legislative body; a rule of an organization or institution; a law or decree made by a sovereign or by God. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): An act of the legislature of a state or country, declaring, commanding, or prohibiting something; a positive law; the written will of the legislature expressed with all the requisite forms of legislation — used in distinction from common law. Also, an act of a corporation or its founder intended as a permanent rule, as the statutes of a university. The common meaning is unusually close to the legal meaning here, which is why common and legal usage rarely diverge in practice. The gap that does exist is institutional: in everyday speech, "statute" is sometimes used loosely for any authoritative rule (a club's statute, God's statutes). In legal research, the term has a precise structural meaning tied to the separation of powers — statutes are acts of a legislature, not executive orders, administrative regulations, court rules, or constitutional provisions, each of which occupies a distinct position in the hierarchy of law.
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES Historical dictionaries and practice distinguish several recognized categories: Declaratory statute: One that formally states existing law on a subject in order to resolve doubt or settle disputed interpretation, without creating new substantive rules. Distinguished from remedial statutes, which do create new rights or remedies. Remedial statute: Designed to correct a defect in the common law or provide a remedy where none previously existed. Traditionally construed liberally. Penal statute: Imposes a penalty — criminal or civil — for prohibited conduct. Traditionally construed strictly against the government and in favor of the person charged. Enabling statute: Grants authority to an administrative body or officer to act, often forming the jurisdictional foundation for an entire regulatory scheme. Consolidating statute: Gathers multiple prior statutes on the same subject into a single act without substantively changing the law. Rapalje & Lawrence identifies this pattern explicitly. Statute of limitations: Fixes the period within which a legal action must be brought. Distinct from a statute of repose (see Encyclopedia cross-reference). Statute merchant / Statute staple: Historical commercial instruments — bonds acknowledged before a magistrate under medieval English commercial statutes — now obsolete in American practice but encountered in historical sources.
Why It Matters in Research
The term's apparent simplicity is a trap for corpus researchers. Several issues compound across time and jurisdiction: Statute vs. common law boundary: Many legal disputes, both historical and modern, turn on whether a rule originates in statute or common law — with significant consequences for construction, retroactivity, and repeal. Historical sources treat this boundary as sharp; modern administrative law has blurred it considerably through statutory delegation. Be alert to this when reading pre-New Deal materials alongside modern regulatory cases. Statutory construction rules: How courts interpret statutes has its own extensive doctrine (strict construction for penal statutes, liberal construction for remedial statutes, plain meaning, legislative intent, canons of construction). Historical dictionary entries frequently mention these construction rules without signaling that they are contested and have evolved. What Bouvier or Black's treats as settled interpretive principle may reflect a now-abandoned approach. Session laws vs. codified statutes: Primary sources may cite a statute by its session law designation (e.g., "Act of March 4, 1875, ch. 36") rather than its codified location. Cross-referencing these requires period-specific knowledge of codification history. Research in historical corpus materials should not assume that a session law citation maps cleanly to a modern code section. "Against the form of the statute" (contra formam statuti): Multiple historical dictionaries in this source set define STATUTE primarily through this phrase — the formal conclusion required in indictments for statutory offenses. This reflects how heavily the term appeared in criminal pleading contexts in earlier practice. A researcher encountering "statute" in historical indictment records should recognize this specialized procedural sense alongside the general legislative meaning. Statutory jurisdiction: A court is said to have statutory jurisdiction when its authority over a class of cases comes from a legislative grant rather than from inherent or common-law judicial power. Historical sources use this phrase frequently; modern sources largely assume it without comment. Scottish usage: Black's 2nd Edition notes the use of STATUTE as a verb in old Scotch law, meaning to ordain or decree. This is purely historical but worth flagging for researchers working with Scottish legal sources.
Historical Dictionary Support
The historical dictionaries in this source set agree on the core meaning: a statute is an act of the legislature, the written expression of legislative will, distinct from common law. Anderson's Dictionary of Law captures it most cleanly: "The written will of a legislature, expressed in the form necessary to constitute it law." Black's 2nd Edition adds the key doctrinal context — statutory law as opposed to common law or equity — and notes that statutory jurisdiction is jurisdiction conferred by legislative act. Where the historical sources diverge in emphasis: Bouvier and Rapalje & Lawrence spend considerable space on procedural mechanics (the contra formam statuti formula in indictments) rather than on the structural definition of the term itself. This reflects the legal world in which those dictionaries were written — one in which correct pleading form was essential and in which the distinction between statutory and common-law offenses had immediate practical stakes. Modern researchers should read this emphasis as context, not definition. None of the historical sources in this set address the modern complexity introduced by administrative rulemaking and delegated legislation — areas where the traditional statute/regulation distinction now does significant doctrinal work. The silence is not an error; it is a limitation of period. Treat historical definitions as accurate to their era and supplement with modern secondary sources when researching administrative law questions.
Jurisdictional Note
The fundamental structure of statutory law — legislative enactment, executive signature, codification — is consistent across American federal and state systems, though procedural details vary. International and historical researchers should note that "statute" in English law historically had specific meaning tied to acts of Parliament, with distinct procedural formalities. In Scottish legal history, as noted by Black's 2nd Edition, the term carried additional verbal and constitutional freight.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Statutes of Repose vs. Statutes of Limitation — Law Mind Civil Procedure & Evidence Encyclopedia (civpro_133). Essential for researchers encountering these closely related but doctrinally distinct statutory forms, particularly in tort and products liability contexts.
Related Terms
Act of Congress / Act of Parliament — legislative synonyms for statute in their respective systems Code / Codification — the organized compilation of statutes by subject matter Common law — the body of judge-made law against which statutes are defined and measured Regulation / Administrative rule — subordinate legislation distinguished from statute proper Statute of limitations — a specific subtype; see also statute of repose Enabling act — grants delegated authority; foundational to administrative law Ordinance — analogous enactment by local legislative bodies Contra formam statuti — the formal pleading phrase; see historical indictment practice Declaratory statute — subtype; relevant to statutory construction research Penal statute — subtype; triggers strict construction canon Legislative history — interpretive resource; relevant to all statutory research
STATUTEmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
When the act complained of is prohibited by a statute, these technical words M must be used in an indictment under it. The Latin phrase is contra formam statuti.
STATUTEmain
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
Technical words which must be used in framing an indictment for a breach of the statute prohibiting the act complained of. The Latin phrase is contra formam statuti.
STATUTEmain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910
ute law, as ‘opposed to the common law or equity. Thus, a court is said to have statutory jurisdiction when jurisdiction is given to it in certain matters by act of the legislature. STATUTE, v. In old Scotch law. To ordain, establish, or decree. STATUTE, n. An act of the legislature; a particular law enacted and established by the will of the legislative department of government, expressed with the requisite formalities. In foreign and civil law. Any particular municipal law or usage, though resting for its authority on judicial decisions, or the practice of nations. 2 Kent, Comm. 45t. The whole municipal law of a particular state, from whatever source arising. Story, Confl. Laws, § 12. “Statute” also sometimes means a kind of bond or.-obligation of record, being an abbreviation for “statute merchant” or “statate staple.” See infra. —Affirmative statute. —Declaratory statute. —Enabling statute. See that title—Expository statute. See that title.—General statute. A statute relating to the whole community, or concerning all persons generally, as distinguished from a pete or special statute. 1 Bl. Comm. 85, 86; 4 Coke, 75a.—Local statute. Such a statute as has for its object the interest of some particular locality, as the formation of a road, the alteration of the course © of a river, the formation of a public market in n particular district, etc.—Negative statute. A statute expressed in negative terms; a statute which prohibits a thing from being done, or declares what shall not be done. —Penal statSee AFFIRMATIVE. See DECLARATORY. ute. See PENAL.—Perpetual statute. One which is to remain in force without limitation as to time; one which contains no provision for its repeal, abrogation, or expiration at any future time.—Personal statutes. In foreign and modern civil law. ‘Those statutes which have principally for their object the person. and treat of property only incidentally. Story, Confl. Laws, § 13. <A personal statute, in this sense of the term, is a law, ordinance, regulation, or custom, the disposition of which affects the person and clothes him with a capacity or incapacity, which he does not change with every change of abode, but which, upon principles of justice and policy, he is assumed to carry with im wherever he goes. 2 Kent, Comm. 456. The term is also applied to statutes which, instead of being general, are confined in their operation to one person or group of persons. Bank of Columbia v. Walker, 14 Lea (Tenn. 308; Saul v. Creditors, 5 Mart. N. 8S. (La. 591, 16 Am. Dec. 212.—Private statute. <A statute which operates only upon particular persons, and private concerns. 1 Bl. Comm. 86. An act which relates to certain individuals. or to particular classes of men. ar. St. 629; State v. Chambers, 93 N.C. 600.—Public statute. A statute enacting a universal rule which regards the whole community, as distinguished from one which concerns only particular individuals and affects only their private rights. See Code Civ. Proc. Cal. § 1898.— Real statutes. In the civil law. Statutes which have principally for their object property, and which do not speak of persons, except in relation to pee Story, Confl. ws, § 13; Saul v. His Creditors, 5 Mart. N. 8. (La.) 6 Am. Dec. 212.—Remedial statute. A body 582, See REMEDIAL.—Revised statutes, of statutes which have been revised, collected, arranged in order, and re-enacted as a whole; this is the legal title of the collections of compiled laws of several of the states and also of the United States.—Special statute. One which operates only upon particular persons and private concerns. 1 Bl. Comm. Distinguished from a general or public statute. —Statute fair. In English law. A fair at which laborers of both sexes stood and offered themselves for hire; sometimes called also “Mop.’—Statute-merchant. In Pnglish law. A security for a debt acknowledged to be due, entered into before the chief magistrate of some it, Ponders pursuant to the statute 13 kidw. I. De Mercatoribus, by which not only the body of the debtor might be imprisoned, and his goads seized in satisfaction of the debt, but also his lands might be delivered to the creditor till out of the rents and profits of them the debt be satisfied. 2 Bl. Comm. 160. Now fallen into disuse. 1 Steph. Comm. 287. See Yates v. People. 6 Johns. (N. Y.) 404.—Statute of accumulations. In English law. The statute 39 & 40 Geo. III. c. 98, forbidding the accumulation, beyond a certain period, o Dro settled by deed or will.—Statute of egiance de facto. An act of 11 Hen. VII. c. 1, re quiring subjects to give their allegiance to the actual king for the time being, and protecting them in so doing.—Statute of dist tions. See DISTRIBUTION.—Statute of Elizabcth. In English law. The statute 13 Eliz. c. 5, against conveyances made in fraud of creditors. —Statute of frauds. See FRAUDS, STATUTE Or.—Statute of Gloucester. In English law. The statute 6 Edw. I..c. 1, A. D. 1278. It takes its name from the place of its enactment, and was the first statute giving costs in actions. 3 Bl. Comm. 39!).—Statute of laborers. See LABORER.—Statute of limitations. See LIMITATION.—Statute of uses. See UsE.—Statute of wills. In English law. The statute 32 Hen. VIII. c. 1, which enacted that all persons being seised in fee-simple (except femes covert, infants, idiots, and persons of non-sane mer might, by will and testament in writing, devise to any other person, except to bodies corporate, two-thirds of their lands, tenements, and hereditaments, held in chivalry, and the whole of those held in socage. 2 Bi. Comm. 375.—Statute roll. <A roll upon which an English statute, after receiving the royal assent, was formerly entered.—Statute staple. See StTarLeE.—Statutes at large. Statutes printed in full and in the order of their enactment, in a collected form, as distinguished from any digest, revision, abridgment, or compilation of them. Thus the volumes of “United States Statutes at Large,” contain all the acts of congress in their order. The name ix also given to an authentic cullection of the various statutes which have been passed by the British parliament from very early times to the present day. Statutes in derogation of common law must be strictly construed. Cooley, Const. Lim. 75, note; Arthurs, Appeal of, 1 Grant Cas. (Pa.) 57.
STATUTEn.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
An act of the legislature of a state or country, declaring, commanding, or prohibiting something; a positive law; the written will of the legislature expressed with all the requisite forms of legislation; -- used in distinction fraom common law. See Common law, under Common, a. Bouvier. An act of a corporation or of its founder, intended as a permanent rule or law; as, the statutes of a university. An assemblage of farming servants (held possibly by statute) for the purpose of being hired; -- called also statute fair. [Eng.] Cf. 3d Mop, 2. Halliwell. Statute book, a record of laws or legislative acts. Blackstone. -- Statute cap, a kind of woolen cap; -- so called because enjoined to be worn by a statute, dated in 1571, in behalf of the trade of cappers. [Obs.] Halliwell. -- Statute fair. See Statute, n., 3, above. -- Statute labor, a definite amount of labor required for the public service in making roads, bridges, etc., as in certain English colonies. -- Statute merchant (Eng. Law), a bond of record pursuant to the stat. 13 Edw. I., acknowledged in form prescribed, on which, if not paid at the day, an execution might be awarded against the body, lands, and goods of the debtor, and the obligee might hold the lands until out of the rents and profits of them the debt was satisfied; -- called also a pocket judgment. It is now fallen into disuse. Tomlins. Bouvier. -- Statute mile. See under Mile. -- Statute of limitations (Law), a statute assigned a certain time, after which rights can not be enforced by action. -- Statute staple, a bond of record acknowledged before the mayor of the staple, by virtue of which the creditor may, on nonpayment, forthwith have execution against the body, lands, and goods of the debtor, as in the statute merchant. It is now disused. Blackstone.
statutenoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributorsCC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
A written law or ordinance passed by a legislative body. | A rule of an organization or institution. | A law or decree made by a sovereign, or by God. | A (theoretical) type of statutory law specified as regulating a person or thing. | A (theoretical) type of statutory law specified as regulating a person or thing. | Legal status of being subject to this. | A statute fair.

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