Law Glossary

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Addressees of a provision or an Act: The person to which the provision or the Act applies directly, namely, the person whose behaviour, situation or interest is regulated.
Amend: Alter formally, by substitution, deletion, or addition, or rephrasing, the provisions of an existing Act or secondary legislation.
Amending Act: An Act performing an amendment.
Amendment: The result of amending. (It is a textual modification of one or more provisions of an Act).
Article: This term is used in certain legal traditions to indicate the basic component of an Act. Here we use the term basic-unit. (See basic-unit.)
Basic-unit: The unit of text that is the basic component of an Act. In some legal traditions, this is known as section; in others, as article. The basic units of an Act contain its main normative provisions. They may be grouped into higher-divisions, and may be accompanied by schedules or annexes.
Bill: A proposed law or piece of legislation put before a legislature for approval.
Commencement: See Entry into force.
Consistency, formal: The use of the same terms in the same meaning within the same Act (internal formal consistency), and also with regard to other Acts (external formal consistency).
Date of application of modification: The time when the addressed Act is modified as indicated in the provision stating the modification.
Date of assent or Date of enactment: The date when the legislative document is agreed or approved by the empowered authority (e.g. Queen, President, Ministry, etc.).
Date of entry into efficacy: The date when the Act becomes effective and it expresses the juridical effects.
Date of entry into force: The date when the Act enters into force (see Entry into force).
Date of publication: The date when the Act is published in the Official Journal (or Official Gazette).
Definition unit: The basic-unit of the Act which contains the main definitions.
Enacting clause: The short phrase that introduces the basic-units of a law enacted by some legislatures. For instance, an enacting clause can have the following form: ENACTED by the Parliament of as follows:.
End-matter: Final part of an Act, which follows the basic-units and contains ending formulas, dates and places of adoption/enactment, and signatures.
Entry into force: Becoming part of the legal system (the set of existing legal provisions). In the civil law tradition the entry into force of an Act is usually a certain time after its publication in order to guarantee a period of adaptation. This period is called vacatio legis.
Front-matter: Initial part of an Act, which precedes the basic-units and includes various elements meant to identify the Act, put it in context, and facilitate access to its contents.
Implementing Act: A normative Act laying down specific rule and procedures for the application of another Act.
Interpretation section: See definition section.
Legislation: Legislative Acts enacted or issued by any legislature. Such Acts include primary legislation and secondary legislation.
Legislation, primary: Any Act of Parliament, provincial Act, ordinance, statute, decree, order, or any other type of original legislation.
Legislation, secondary: Any delegated or subordinate legislation issued by the executive, such as regulations, notices and proclamations.
Legislative Act or Act: A document (usually a Bill) which has been made law through the legislative process.
Legislature: Any competent legislative body or person, whether elected or appointed, with primary legislative powers derived from or assigned by a constitution or any other law.
Marginal, side or shoulder notes: The classification or the naming of clauses or basic-units of the bill/Act. When read together, these notes should give a reasonably accurate idea of the contents of the provisions to which they relate.
Modification: Any alteration of an aspect of provisions in legislation. It may concern the content provisions, their time of force or efficacy, their legal value or status. Modifications of contents are usually performed through amendment.
Normative provision: Any provision having an immediate legal significance, expressing a legal norm. In other words a rule of law.
Normative reference: Any cross-reference to a legislative Act or part of it.

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