Theres a minefield of legislation out there!

That's plenty of 'statutory law' to get your head round...

We have designed this area of our website for the purpose of explaining certain areas of legislation in clear and simple to understand terms.

Legislation is statutory law which has been enacted by a legislature or other governing body. The term may refer to a single law, or the collective body of enacted law, while "statute" is also used to refer to a single law.

Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, which is typically also known as "legislation" while it remains under active consideration. Legislation can have many purposes: to regulate, to authorize, to provide (funds), to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict.

Legislation must usually be confirmed by the executive branch of government before it enters into force as law. Under the Westminster system, an item of primary legislation is known as an Act of Parliament after enactment.

Legislation is usually proposed by a member of the legislature (e.g. a member of Parliament), or by the executive, whereupon it is debated by members of the legislature and is often amended before passage.

Usually only a small fraction of the bills proposed in a given session are enacted. Whether a given bill will be proposed and enter into force is generally a matter of the legislative priorities of government.

Those who have the formal power to create legislation are known as legislators, while the judicial branch of government may have the formal power to interpret legislation.