What are the advantages of statute law? Statute law is actually a law made formally in the exercise of statutory power conferred on it by the constitution itself. The law is applicable within the limits of the constitution, except when contradictory to it. For instance, a judicature act may direct that the chief executive must appoint a trustee, who must be a resident of the country. In case of conflict between the act and the constitution, the law provides the higher authority.
A chief executive also has the prerogative of declaring emergencies or problems or emergency legislation for which the legislature may act. There is no need to refer to the constitution in such. However, one could ask: what if there is a conflict between statute law and constitution? Is there any way the legislation can get affected?
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Statute law does not limit the extent to which it can go beyond the powers conferred upon it under the constitution, except where it is specifically declared so in the constitution. Thus, it is superior to delegated legislation, although in practice many members often refer to the former. The chief executive has the right to alter, amend or supplement delegatively enacted laws. Statute of Limitations is an instance in which the legislature has the power to control the lapse of statutes. Statute of limitations prevents the courts from entertaining the claims of an inferior or incompetent authority for a long period, which may be affecting specific issues.
In United States, House of Representatives and Senate are the legislatively created bodies of representative assembly. The separate house could not pass new-order legislation unless approved by the other house. In practice, there is some flexibility in terms of enacting a new-order legislation. Sometimes, the speaker may have to get the support of the House or Senate for a rule change. For instances like this, the presiding officer or legislative counsel will be asked to craft new statutes on behalf of the leaders.
On the other hand, the most important disadvantage of statutory language is that it is generally beyond the reach of judicial review. Statute of Limitation, however, does not bar review on legislative actions until the limitation period expires. In practice, most judges do not require a case to be brought within the statute’s short-term limitation period. This makes Statute of Limitations an attractive option to bring lawsuits before the courts outside of the legislative session when the cases come up for hearing. However, even in such cases, the statute of limitations bars a suit from being filed against the legislative leader or his/her personal representatives for statements made during the session.
In practice, there is also another possibility that the statutory law may create a potential problem with the workings of the legal system. When a person sues another person, the governing body having the power to pass laws dealing with that person’s injury has to be involved. Under the common law system, only the government was allowed to represent its citizens. Statute Law, on the other hand, limits the role of the legislature in cases involving personal injury. In effect, the law restricts the capacity of the legislature to protect its citizens’ rights and freedoms.
Another problem with interpreting Statute Law is the difficulty of establishing the meaning of words in a case that involves disputes over private facts. Frequently, one party is not sufficiently knowledgeable about how the action or inaction of another affects the rights and freedoms of others. Appellate courts are particularly difficult to deal with because they lack standing as well as subject matter expertise. The judges who preside over these cases are not experts in the field and have to interpret the law according to their own particular experience and knowledge. In short, judges inevitably arrive at conclusions that the parties to the litigation do not agree with or can rationalize.
One of the most important advantages of statutory law is that it is very difficult for a court to review an interpretation of a law by a legislative body other than the courts. For example, a tax code cannot be changed by a legislature other than the one that passed the code. Because of this one must conclude that statutory laws are more accurate than customary laws because no other authority other than the legislature can give its opinion about the law.
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