Statutes
Statutes are formal laws enacted by legislatures, serving as a primary source of law in many jurisdictions, particularly in the United States and other English-speaking countries. Unlike common law, which develops through judicial decisions and precedents, statutes provide a written framework that governs various aspects of life, including antitrust, environmental, and labor relations. Over the twentieth century, the significance of statutes has grown, often surpassing common law in importance, particularly at the federal level. The interpretation of these laws has been a point of contention, with some legal scholars and judges advocating for a literal interpretation of statutory language, while others emphasize the importance of understanding legislative intent through historical context and debates. This dynamic creates a complex landscape for lawyers, who must navigate both legislative texts and judicial outcomes in their practice. The rise of regulatory legislation has also led to an increased need for legal expertise among legislators and administrative agencies, further solidifying the role of statutory law in modern governance. As the legal landscape continues to evolve, the debates surrounding statutory interpretation and the role of administrative agencies remain central to discussions about the American legal system.
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Statutes
SIGNIFICANCE: Statutes, or laws written by legislatures, are often contrasted with common law—that is, law arising primarily from judicial decisions and only later, if ever, codified in statutory or similar form.
In the United States, Great Britain, and other English-speaking countries, most law was traditionally of the common-law variety, the decision of legal questions being based on results in prior cases (precedent) and judges’ own sense of equity or fairness in the case at hand. In the twentieth century the vastly increased pace of regulatory legislation, including antitrust, securities, environmental, labor, and various antidiscrimination laws, together with tax and commercial law statutes, meant that statutory law had become as important or more important than common law, especially at the federal level.
Courts and practicing attorneys still spend much of their time dealing with the interpretation and application of federal and state statutes. In this sense, the difference between the English-speaking countries and the so-called civil law jurisdictions, such as France and Italy, which do not have a common-law tradition and have always relied primarily on statutory law, has been reduced in recent times.
Statutes create work for lawyers at all levels of the legislation and interpretation process. Many senators, congressmen, and state legislators are themselves practicing attorneys, and legislative committees employ staff attorneys to provide technical assistance in drafting various bills. At the administrative level—for example, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for tax laws and the Justice Department for antitrust or antidiscrimination statutes—still more lawyers are required to write regulations and supervise enforcement efforts.
Finally, many private attorneys emphasize statutory law in their day-to-day practice, especially in specialty areas that are largely statutory in nature. This type of practice is highly challenging, because it requires familiarity with legislative and administrative sources together with more widely known judicial or court decisions. Thus, a tax lawyer must remain up-to-date about new and proposed tax legislation, IRS regulations and rulings, and judicial decisions in tax-related cases.
A major debate has focused on the interpretation of statutes. Some US Supreme Court Justices have argued that statutes should be interpreted according to their literal language, their opponents have argued that legislative history, including committee reports and floor debates, should be accorded greater and at times decisive weight. A parallel debate has focused on the degree of deference that courts should accord to administrative agency decisions that delineate the scope or breadth of particular statutes. How these debates will turn out is uncertain, but the vehemence with which they have been conducted highlights the increasing importance of statutory law throughout the American legal system.
Bibliography
Bruhl, Aaron-Andrew P. "Interpreting State Statutes in Federal Court." William & Mary Law School, Nov. 2022, scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3155&context=facpubs. Accessed 10 July 2024.
Conklin, Curt E. An Historical and Bibliographic Introduction to the United States Statutes at Large. Washington, D.C.: Government Publications Press, 1992.
Demleitner, Nora V., Douglas A. Berman, Marc L. Miller, and Ronald F. Wright. Sentencing Law and Policy: Cases, Statutes, and Guidelines. New York: Aspen Publishers, 2003.
Dubber, Markus Dirk. Criminal Law: Model Penal Code. New York : Foundation Press, 2002.
Federal Criminal Code and Rules. St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing, 2003.