Statute
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
Civil Code of Quebec or the
United States Code.
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.
