Statute

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The Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania

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.

[edit] International law

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.

[edit] See also

• Organic statute

Law
	Legal systems	Common law | Civil law | Customary law | Religious law | Socialist law | International law
	Sources of law	Statutory law (Legislation | Civil code | Statutory interpretation)
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	Adjudication	Public law (Criminal law | Constitutional law | Administrative law)
		Private law (Civil law | Law of obligations | Contract | Tort | Wills and Trusts)
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	Jurisprudence	Philosophy of law | Natural law | Legal positivism | Legal formalism | Legal realism | Legal interpretivism | Feminist legal theory | Law and economics | Critical legal studies | Comparative law
	See also:List of areas of law