Statute — in plain language

Plain language

a written law passed by a legislature, like Congress or a state assembly

• a written law
• a law passed by lawmakers
• an act of the legislature

What to watch for

• A statute is a law made by a legislature, not a rule made by an agency (a 'regulation') or a city (an 'ordinance'); a plain rewrite should not blur these different sources of law.
• 'The statute has run' or 'barred by statute' is short for the statute of limitations and means a deadline has passed, not that a law was repealed; keep the time-limit sense when that is meant.
• Statutes (written, enacted laws) differ from 'common law' (judge-made law from past cases); do not imply all law comes from statutes.

Statute vs. Regulation vs. Ordinance. These all create binding rules, but they come from different places. A statute is passed by a legislature. A regulation is made by a government agency to carry out a statute. An ordinance is a local law made by a city or county. A careful rewrite should keep the source clear, because it affects who made the rule and how it can be changed.

Statute as a Deadline. In litigation, phrases like "the statute has run" or "barred by the statute" almost always refer to the statute of limitations, a time limit for filing a claim. A plain version should switch to "deadline" here, rather than implying a law was removed or broken.

Common Misunderstandings by Non-Lawyers.

• "All laws are statutes." (No — courts also make 'common law,' and agencies make regulations.)
• "A statute and a regulation are the same." (Not quite — a statute is passed by lawmakers; a regulation is made by an agency.)
• "Saying the statute has run means the law was cancelled." (No — it means a filing deadline has passed.)

Legal definition

A written law formally passed by a legislature, such as Congress or a state assembly. Statutes are one of the main sources of law, alongside constitutions, agency regulations, and judge-made common law. Contracts often point to specific statutes to set the rules the parties must follow. The word is also used as shorthand for a statute of limitations, the deadline for bringing a legal claim.

Meanings by context

statute of limitations: the legal deadline for bringing a case

Examples

Where you'll see it

• governing-law and compliance clauses
• references to specific code sections
• regulatory requirements
• statute-of-limitations provisions

Related terms

• regulation
• ordinance
• code
• common law
• statute of limitations
• act

Word details

Pronunciation

STACH-oot

Part of speech

noun

Origin

Latin — from 'statutum' — that which is set up or established; a thing decreed

Domains

legislation, statutory interpretation, constitutional law, regulatory law

Frequency

very common

Formality

high