Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/602

* STATUTE. 516 STATUTE. STATUTE (Lat. statutum, statute, neu. sg. of stalKlKS, p.p. of s-tatuere, to set up, establish, from statum, supine of sture, to stand). A law enacted or promulgated in writing by the su- preme legislative body of a government, or by its authority. Statute law is sometimes spoken of as written law to distinguish it from the ponimon or unwritten law, which is established exclusivel}' by judicial decision. All statutes have their source in the official action of the legislative body, the form of which may vary according to the particular form of government under which it acts. The validity of a statute in any given case depends not only upon the legislative body's being lawfully constituted, but upon its constitutional authority to act. (See CoNSTiTUTiON.AL L.w. ) Statutes jnay be en- acted by indirect legislation, that is. by some subordinate legislative body whose acts derive their validity from the sanction of the supreme legislative body. Thus, in England Orders in Council and the various rules of court adopted under the judicature acts, and in the United States the ordinances of Boards of Aldermen, and the ordinances of Boards of Health under the various public health acts, are examples of statutes en- acted by indirect legislation. The procedure by which statutes are created by legislative enactment has been fully discussed under the topics Pabuament ; Coxgkess ; Legis- LATlo.x : etc. ; to which reference is here made. In England the acts of Parliament have the full force of statutory law without the approval of the sov- ereign, although it is the established custom for the sovereign to promulgate all statutes "by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in this present Parlia- ment assembled." In the United States the acts of Congress require the assent of the President of the United States, and the acts of the various legislatures require the assent of the Governors of their respective States to give them validity as statutes. See Veto. Statute laws may be classified with reference to the i)urpose for which they are enacted, with reference to the subject-matter of the statutes, and with reference to the compliance with the statute required. Vith reference to their pur- pose, statutes are said to be (a) Declaratory, when passed for the purpose of affirming a rule of the common law which is uncertain or in- definite, or a statute of doubtful meaning; (b) Remedial, when passed for the purpose of reme- dying defects or supplying omissions in the statute or common law; (c) Penal, when passed for the purpose of prohibiting acts specified in the statute and imposing a penalty for its vio- lation. With reference to their subject mat- ter, they are said to be (a) Public, when ap- plicable to the entire community, and (b) Pri- vate (see the explanation of these terms un- der the titles Law; Legislation; Public L.w; etc.), as distinguished from public when applicable to a single individual or corpora- tion, or to a limited number of individuals. The distinction between public and private statutes, first made as early as the reign of Richard II.. now has considerable importance, owing to various statutory and constitutional provisions requiring the publication of public and private statutes separately. Statutes have also been classified with reference to the extent of terri- tory in which they are applicable. Those stat- utes are said to be (a) General, when they ap- ply to the entire territory subject to the legis- lative jurisdiction of the law-making body, and (b) Local, when they extend only to a single or limited political division of such territory, as statutes enacted by State legislatures which appl.v only to a single town, city, or county. With reference to the subject matter also, statutes are classified as Enabling acts, which confer rights or privileges, as the Married Women's Enabling Acts: and Disabling acts, which take away rights or privileges hitherto en- joyed, as statutes requiring legal voters to have new or additional qualifications. With reference to the compliance required statutes are said to be (a) Jlandatory, w-hen they direct an act to be done with the conse- quence that if it is not done all acts or pro- ceedings taken under the st.atute are invalid. Thus statutes formulating the procedure for organizing corporations, or authorizing civil ar- rest, are mandatory, since they must be strictly complied with, or" all acts done under them have no validity. (b) Directory, when failure to comply with the statute does not afl'ect the validity of acts done under it or entail the imposition of any penalty for failure to comply with the statute. Thus many statutes specifying the time and manner of filing official reports are directory only. There is no penalty for failure to comply with the statute, and compliance with it can be compelled only by mandamus (q.v.). (c) Prohibitory, when they forbid the doing of any act either with or without penalty for failure to comply with the statute. (d) Permissive, when the.v allow- acts to be done not before permitted, or give to them some additional legal effect, although such acts are not required to be done, as the various statutes permitting the disposition of property by will. A statute may contain four distinct parts — the title, the preamble, the enacting clause, and the purview. The title is a short form of description of the statute, as for example, 'An Act Prohibiting Sabbath-Breaking.' In some States the title is of great importance, because of constitutional provisions reciuiring statutes to have titles descriptive of the subject matter of the statute. In the absence of such provision, it is now the usual practice to omit the title. The preamble is an introductorv and explana- tory statement setting forth the reason and pur- pose of the statute. It is of service only as an aid in interpreting the purview of the statute which follows. All the early English statutes included the preamble, but it is now seldom used. The enacting clause is a brief direction that the statute be enacted by the legislative body; as. "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the L'nited States of America in Congress assembled." The purview is that portion of the statute following the enacting clause, and is the only part of the statute which has the effect of law. it mav contain various subdivisions or clauses known as provisos, exceptions, the saving clause, the repealing clause, terms which are self-ex- planatory. t common law a statute was deemed to take effect as upon the first day of the session in which it was enacted. This was modified by