Statutory law is best defined as which of the following?

Statutory law is best defined as which of the following?

• A. Law derived from court decisions (case law).
• B. Law is based on customary practices recognized by a community.
• C. Rules issued by administrative agencies.
• D. Law enacted by a legislature (federal, state, or local governing body).

Answer: (D)

Statutory law is the written rules created by a legislative body at the federal, state, or local level. Legislatures draft, debate, and pass statutes, which are then codified into codes and become the formal rules that govern conduct. These laws are the primary source of written law and lay out specific prohibitions, duties, and penalties. This differs from other legal sources. Case law comes from court decisions that interpret statutes or apply common law to particular disputes, so it fills gaps and explains how statutes work in practice but isn’t itself created by the legislature. Customary law is based on long-standing practices recognized by a community, not on formal enactment. Administrative rules, or regulations, are issued by agencies under the authority of statutes; they implement and elaborate on statutory provisions but originate from rulemaking rather than from the legislature’s enactment itself. So the definition that matches statutory law is law enacted by a legislature.

Statutory law is the written rules created by a legislative body at the federal, state, or local level. Legislatures draft, debate, and pass statutes, which are then codified into codes and become the formal rules that govern conduct. These laws are the primary source of written law and lay out specific prohibitions, duties, and penalties.

This differs from other legal sources. Case law comes from court decisions that interpret statutes or apply common law to particular disputes, so it fills gaps and explains how statutes work in practice but isn’t itself created by the legislature. Customary law is based on long-standing practices recognized by a community, not on formal enactment. Administrative rules, or regulations, are issued by agencies under the authority of statutes; they implement and elaborate on statutory provisions but originate from rulemaking rather than from the legislature’s enactment itself.

So the definition that matches statutory law is law enacted by a legislature.