STATUTORY LAW VS. COMMON LAW

These are the two basic types of law which govern society.

Statutory law is that enacted either by Congress or the legislatures of the various states. For example, the requirement that lawyers and doctors must meet certain requirements and be licensed before they can practice is a statutory law. That you are forbidden to drive while intoxicated is a statutory criminal law, which also sets out the standards for determining the level of drunkenness.

Common law is that which is derived from America's English legal heritage.

It is sometimes referred to as case law. In essence, it is Judge-made law, that which has not been codified, but has evolved through the years, even centuries, and become accepted as something to which members of society must adhere.

All states in the U.S. -- except for Louisiana -- are common law states, even though the trend in recent decades has been to codify many laws. Louisiana, where they've always been a little out of step, bases its law on French codes. (Its cooking is also based on French styles, but that's another discussion for another forum.)

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