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Simple English definitions for legal terms
Uncodified
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A quick definition of Uncodified:
Term: Uncodified
Definition: Uncodified refers to principles that are not written down in laws, but are instead based on common practices and traditions. This means that they exist only because people have always followed them, rather than because they are written in a book or a set of rules. Sometimes, uncodified principles are entirely unwritten, meaning that they are not even recorded anywhere.
A more thorough explanation:
Uncodified
Absent from legislative statutes and existing only by virtue of the common law. Sometimes used in a wider sense to refer to principles that are entirely unwritten.
Uncodified means that something is not written down in a law or statute. It only exists because of common law, which is based on past court decisions. Sometimes, it can refer to principles that are not written down at all.
One example of an uncodified principle is the presumption of innocence in criminal cases. This principle is not written down in any law, but it is widely accepted and followed in the legal system. Another example is the concept of parliamentary sovereignty in the UK, which is not written down in any one document but is based on various laws and traditions.
Another example is the common law system itself, which is not written down in any one law but is based on centuries of court decisions and legal traditions.
These examples illustrate the definition of uncodified because they show how principles and systems can exist without being written down in a specific law or statute. Instead, they are based on common law, court decisions, and traditions.