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English to English translations [PRO] Law/Patents - Law (general) / Legislative procedure
English term or phrase:act vs. statute
Is there any difference between these two words? Are they synonyms? I usually used 'act of laws' , e.g. 'Act on corporate income tax' when translating legislation, however (see below) http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-statutes/index.do
Explanation: IMO 'statute' is generic and collective, while 'act' is specific and singular. An act is thus a statute, and the acts generated by a legislative body are collectively referred to as satutes, but 'act' is normally used in the formal title of a statute. You could thus talk about 'the statute on rural land use planning' or 'the statutes regarding rural land use planning', but the title(s) of the actual statute(s) would be something such such as 'Rural Land Use Planning Act'.
See e.g.:
Idaho Statutes
TITLE 67
STATE GOVERNMENT AND STATE AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 65
LOCAL LAND USE PLANNING
67-6501. SHORT TITLE. This act shall be known as the "Local Land Use Planning Act."
I've chosen this commentary, because of very good, clear explanation, but I'd like to thank all of you for support and commentaries. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 31 mins (2007-07-24 21:00:47 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Though I would not use them interchangeably, particularly in relation to titles - as per your example - I would keep with act. However, in the third person singular, i.e 'the statute on corporation income tax' states... either would be OK. I hope this helps.
Martin Hood Local time: 01:38 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English
Explanation: Though the two are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a subtle difference.
An act is a legislative proclamation modifying the existing body of law, while statute is the law itself.
An act may create law, for example, by writing an entirely new law. In this case, the bulk of the text of the act passed by the legislature (usually minus some introductory material) passes into law directly, becoming statute.
The act may also modify an existing statute by amendment. For example "In Article 2 section 1 paragraph 7 of <whatever>, the word 'prohibited' and all following words through the end of the paragraph shall be stricken and replaced with the word 'permitted'." In this case, all the technicalities of how the law is amended are matters of the act, and the result of their action is the new body of statute law.
Mike Gogulski Slovakia Local time: 01:38 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 16
Explanation: IMO 'statute' is generic and collective, while 'act' is specific and singular. An act is thus a statute, and the acts generated by a legislative body are collectively referred to as satutes, but 'act' is normally used in the formal title of a statute. You could thus talk about 'the statute on rural land use planning' or 'the statutes regarding rural land use planning', but the title(s) of the actual statute(s) would be something such such as 'Rural Land Use Planning Act'.
See e.g.:
Idaho Statutes
TITLE 67
STATE GOVERNMENT AND STATE AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 65
LOCAL LAND USE PLANNING
67-6501. SHORT TITLE. This act shall be known as the "Local Land Use Planning Act."
Explanation: An enactment is a statute, however in the name it is call an "Act" - eg Fair Trade Act (and not Fair Trade Statute), but it is not an act covering fair trade, but rather a statute dealing with issues related to fair trade.
Does that help?
Charlesp Local time: 01:38 Specializes in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 12
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1
