Legal Definitions - statutum

The term statutum (pronounced stah-TOO-tum) refers to a formal law, decree, or established rule, particularly in historical legal contexts.

Historically, it most commonly describes:

• An act of Parliament, especially one that received approval from the monarch.
• In Roman law, an ordinance or an imperial law issued by an emperor.

In essence, a statutum is a legal provision that has been officially enacted and formally established as binding law.

Examples:

• Imagine a law passed by the English Parliament in the 15th century that dictated specific rules for inheritance of land. This parliamentary enactment, once approved by the reigning monarch, would be referred to as a statutum. It represents a formally established legal rule that governed how property was passed down through generations.

• Consider a decree issued by a Roman Emperor, such as Emperor Hadrian, which standardized the legal procedures for resolving disputes between citizens across the empire. This imperial decree would be considered a statutum in Roman law. It served as a binding legal ordinance, establishing uniform legal practices throughout the vast Roman territories.

• In a medieval European city-state, the city council might have passed a regulation outlining the permissible construction materials and building heights within the city walls to prevent fires and maintain urban aesthetics. This local regulation, formally established by the governing body of the city, would function as a statutum for that jurisdiction, setting a binding legal standard for urban development.