In this article, you will know the difference between Article, Section, Ordinance, Act, and Code. There is not much difference but a slight difference between all of these. So, you will know about these terms in this post.
What is an Article?
An Article is a legal term used for divisioning and portioning of basic and fundamental laws, direct legislation by a parliament, within a major or primary law of a country or a company. For example, the constitution of Pakistan, the Articles of Association of any company or organization, etc.
What is a Section?
It is a term used for divisioning and portioning of secondary laws of a state, next to the Constitution, providing definitions, regulating procedures and the punishment, etc. For example, section 420 of the Pakistan penal code and 154 of Criminal Procedure.
What is an Ordinance?
An ordinance is a law made by the President or any competent authority in absence of Legislature/parliament or in an acute emergency state for a specific period which later on expires or the Parliament gives consent which becomes permanent law. It has a life of 120 days and it is extendable on time by the President and Parliament may reject, set-aside or may give consent to it, Parliament may convert it into the act by adopting/passing in the parliament.
What is an Act?
Act means a law passed by the Parliament through adopting proper legislative procedure after obtaining approval and consent of the Parliament Committee, Lower house, and Upper house of the Parliament. For example, The Anti Terrorism Act.
What is a Code?
A Code is a set of secondary laws (other than the constitution) especially made and uniformed in a single code aiming at effective applicability and regulating the procedure of forums or court and specified outcomes, for example, Pakistan Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.
What is a Manual?
Manual is neither a legal term nor a kind of law but it is a general term used for compendium or compilation of laws of a specific field or profession. It could be in a department, containing all the relevant laws and rules. For example, Manual of Jail Laws, Manual of Military Laws, etc.
What is a Statute?
A Statute is a comprehensive term used for different laws including acts, ordinances, and Orders. In other words, laws having the protection of the Constitution are called Statutes.
So, in this post, you learned about the Difference between Article Section Ordinance Act and Code. These are the most important legal terms that every law student should be aware of.
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