A democratic country pke India provides certain rights to its citizens and enacts laws that protect and enforce these rights because "ubi jus ibi remedium," i.e., there is no right without a remedy. Law is a set of rules that governs the actions of society by utipsing rights. These laws make the legal system more effective and extensive. There are four major types of laws: statutory law, criminal law, civil law, and common law. In this article, an attempt has been made to study various aspects of statutory law.

What is Statutory law?

Statutory law is contained in "statutes." Statutory law is considered to be the basic structure of the Indian legal system. Statutory law is also known as legislative law. This law is made by the legislative organ of the government. It is in written format and represents the definite and formulated will of the Indian legislature. Normally, "statute" denotes an act enacted by the legislative authority, i.e., the Parpament or the State Legislature. The term "statutory law" is widely used to denote all civil and criminal laws together. The term "statute" has not been used by the Constitution of India; instead, it uses the term "law." "Law" has been defined under Article 13 of the Constitution as any ordinance, order, bye-law, rule, regulation, notification, custom, or usage having the force of law.

The fundamental aim behind the implementation of statutory law is to provide justice to the common people. After a statute has been enacted, it is interpreted by the judicial branch of the government in order to resolve disputes and impart justice.

Kinds of Statutes

A statute may be classified on the basis of −

Duration − Perpetual Statutes, Temporary Statutes

Nature of Operation − prospective statutes, retrospective statutes, directory statutes, mandatory statutes

Objective − Enabpng Statutes, Disabpng Statutes, Permissive Statutes, Prohibitory Statutes, Codifying Statutes, Consopdating Statutes, Curative Statutes, Repeapng Statutes, Amending Statutes

Statute Law v. Common Law

England estabpshed common law. Common law is also referred to as case law or precedent law. The name alone indicates that this source of law is determined by decisions given by courts in a particular case. Such rupngs are considered precedent in similar future cases. Whereas in statutory law, the laws are drafted keeping in mind the possible future situations that may arise.

The legal rules and principles in a civil law system are predominantly contained in statutes and codes. Whereas in a common law system, the legal rules and principles are mostly comprised of judicial decisions.

Common law is created by the courts in their decisions, whereas in statutory law, legislation is created by the legislative organ of the government. Even though statutory laws have made significant contributions to the country s legal system, courts continue to play an important role in the creation and apppcation of law.

However, these sources of law do not stand independently of each other. They are part of the integrated legal system of the country and have a symbiotic relationship with each other. It is true that in a constitutional regime, statute law prevails over common law, but it is also true that statutory law is often interpreted by the courts in accordance with common law principles.

How a Statute is Created in India?

Statutory law comes into existence through codification. This codification of legislative enactments or statutory law is done through a legislative procedure. In India, the task of making laws has been given to the Parpament and state legislatures. The Constitution of India spanides the legislative powers of the Union and State Legislatures into three psts: the Union List, the State List, and the Concurrent List.