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Legislation (or "statutory law") is law which has been promulgated (or "enacted") by a legislature or other Governing Body or the process of making it. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to as "legislation", while it remains under consideration to distinguish it from other business. Legislation can have many purposes: to regulate, to authorize, to proscribe, to provide (funds), to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict. It may be contrasted with a non-legislative act which is adopted by an executive or administrative body under the authority of a legislative act or for implementing a legislative act.
Legislation is usually proposed by a member of the legislature (e.g. a member of Congress or Parliament), or by the executive, whereupon it is debated by members of the legislature and is often amended before passage. Most large legislatures enact only a small fraction of the bills proposed in a given session. Whether a given bill will be proposed and is generally a matter of the legislative priorities of government.
Legislation is regarded as one of the three main functions of government, which are often distinguished under the doctrine of the separation of powers. Those who have the formal power to create legislation are known as legislators; a judicial branch of government will have the formal power to interpret legislation (see statutory interpretation); the executive branch of government can act only within the powers and limits set by the law.
The function and procedures are primarily the responsibility of the legislature. However, there are situations where legislation is made by other bodies or means, such as when constitutional law or secondary legislation is enacted. Such other forms of law-making include referendums - such as the Scottish independence referendum -, orders in council or regulations. The term legislation is sometimes used to include these situations, or the term primary legislation may be used to exclude these other forms.
The phrase "dead letter" refers to legislation that has not been revoked, but that has become inapplicable or obsolete or is no longer enforced.
- See Article 289(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
- Wim Voermans (December 2009). "Is the European Legislator after Lisbon a real Legislature?". Legislacao Cadernos de Ciencia de Legislacao 50: 391–413 .
Within the category of legal acts provided for by the TFEU, a distinction is made between legislative acts and non-legislative acts. Legislative acts are decisions adopted under the ordinary or special legislative procedure (Article 289(3) of the TFEU) and non-legislative acts are decisions that are adopted pursuant to delegation or for the purpose of implementing a legislative act (Articles 35 See Article 288 of the TFEU, last 290 and 291 of the TFEU)
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