A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative body, a stage in the process of legislation . Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy . Statutes are laws made by legislative bodies; they are distinguished from case law or precedent , which is decided by courts , regulations issued by government agencies , and oral or customary law . Statutes may originate with the legislative body of a country, state or province, county, or municipality .
8-528: The Florida Statutes are the codified, statutory laws of Florida; it currently has 49 titles. A chapter in the Florida Statutes represents all relevant statutory laws on a particular subject. The statutes are the selected reproduction of the portions of each session law, which are published in the Laws of Florida , that have general applicability. While the legislature may create specific chapters,
16-593: A supplement was published following each even-year regular session. The practice of publishing the Florida Statutes every other year was a relic of when the Florida Legislature, prior to 1969, met only in odd-numbered years. Statute The word "statute" is derived from the late Latin word "statutum", which means 'law', 'decree'. In virtually all countries, newly enacted statutes are published and distributed so that everyone can look up
24-749: Is 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 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 in about the 18th century. In
32-416: Is how to organize published statutes. Such publications have a habit of starting small but growing rapidly over time, as new statutes are enacted in response to the exigencies of the moment. Eventually, persons trying to find the law are forced to sort through an enormous number of statutes enacted at various points in time to determine which portions are still in effect. The solution adopted in many countries
40-473: Is to organize existing statutory law in topical arrangements (or "codified" ) within publications called codes , then ensure that new statutes are consistently drafted so that they add, amend, repeal or move various code sections. In turn, in theory, the code will thenceforth reflect the current cumulative state of the statutory law in that jurisdiction. In many nations statutory law is distinguished from and subordinate to constitutional law . The term statute
48-464: The autonomous communities of Spain , an autonomy statute is a legal document similar to the constitution of a federated state , save that it is enacted by the national legislature, rather than the autonomous community it governs. The autonomy statutes in Spain have the rank of ley orgánica (organic law), a category of special legislation reserved only for the main institutions and issues and mentioned in
56-507: The Florida Office of Legislative Services' Division of Statutory Revision has the final authority to determine where the legislation will be codified and the location of the sections within the chapters. Some laws do not appear in the statutes where the bill identifies their placement. Since 1999, the Florida Statutes have been published annually. Before then, they were published biannually following each odd-year regular session, and
64-408: The statutory law. This can be done in the form of a government gazette which may include other kinds of legal notices released by the government, or in the form of a series of books whose content is limited to legislative acts. In either form, statutes are traditionally published in chronological order based on date of enactment. A universal problem encountered by lawmakers throughout human history
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