INTRODUCTION

“Legis” means law and “latum” means making. Legislation means lawmaking. It also refers to
the law made by the legislature. It may also be defined as the promulgation of legal rules by an
authority which has the power to do so. It is the formal declaration of the legal rules by the
legislative organ of the body politic. In a wider sense, it includes all the sources of law, any act
done with the effect of adding to or altering the law. When a judge establishes a new principle in
a judicial decision, it is possible to say that he has exercised legislative power and it is also
legislation. It frames new laws, amends the old laws and cancels existing laws in all countries.

Legislation is the prime source of law and consists in the declaration of legal rules by a competent
authority. Legislation can have many purposes: to regulate, to authorize, to enable, to proscribe,
and to provide funds, to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict. A parliamentary legislature
frames new laws, such as Acts of Parliament, and amends or repeals old laws. The legislature may
delegate law-making powers to lower bodies. In the UK, such delegated legislation includes
Statutory Instruments, Orders in Council, & Bye-laws. Delegated legislation may be open to
challenge for irregularity of process; and the legislature usually has the right to withdraw delegated
powers if it sees fit. Most legislatures have their powers restricted by the nation's Constitution, and
Montesquieu's theory of the separation of powers typically restricts a legislature's powers to
legislation. Although the legislature has the power to legislate, it is the courts that have the power
to interpret statutes, treaties and regulations. Similarly, although parliaments have the power to
legislate, it is usually the executive who decides on the legislative programme. The procedure is
usually that a bill is introduced to Parliament and after the required number of readings, committee
stages and amendments, the bill gains approval and becomes an Act.

There are two obvious reasons for legislation being regarded as one of the most effective sources
of law. Firstly, it involves lying down of legal rules by the legislature which the State recognizes
as law. Secondly, it has the force and authority of the State. It is for this reason that Dias has rightly
said that deliberate law-making by an authoritative power, i.e., the State is called 'legislation'
provided that authority is duly recognised as the supreme power by the courts. Undoubtedly,
deliberate law-making is indispensable for the efficient regulation of modem State. Legislation
mostly becomes the exclusive source of new law with the advancing civilization. The power of
supreme legislature such as the Parliament of India or the US. Congress is strictly defined by a
written Constitution. The constitutional validity of a particular legislation may, however, be
challenged before a competent Court having jurisdiction.

LEGISLATION : DEFINED

The term 'legislation' is derived from Latin words, Iegis meaning law and Iatum which means "to
make" or "set". Thus the word ‘legislation’ means 'making of law'. Legislation is that source of
law which consists in the declaration of legal rules by a competent authority. The term ’legislation’
has been used in different senses. In its broadest sense, it includes all methods of law-making.
However, in its technical sense, legislation includes every expression of the will of the legislature,
whether making law or not. Thus ratification of a treaty with a foreign State by an Act of
Parliament shall be considered law in this sense. But in strict sense of the term, legislation means
enacted law or statute law passed by the supreme or subordinate legislature. Jurists have expressed
divergent views about legislation as a source of law. The term 'legislation' is, however, restricted
to a particular form of law-making, namely the declaration of rules of law in statutory form by a
competent authority. it denotes promulgation of law by the legislature of the State. The law that
has its source in legislation is called the enacted law or statute law.

According to Bentham and John Stuart Mill, legislation includes both, the Process of law-making
and the law evolved as a result of this process.

Gray pointed out that legislation includes "formal utterances of the legislative organs of the
society”.

T. E. Holland has interpreted the term legislation in its widest sense and observed, "the making of
general orders by our judges is as true legislation as carried on by the Crown”.

According to Austin, legislation includes activities which result into lawmaking or amending,
transforming or inserting new provisions in the existing law. Thus there can be no law without a
legislative Act. Austin further holds that when a Judge establishes a new principle by means of his
judicial decision, he is said to exercise legislative power and not judicial power.

James Carter, a staunch supporter of the historical school of jurisprudence, however, thinks that
legislation is the least creative of the sources of law as it is not possible to make law by legislative
action alone. At the most it may threaten a punishment as a consequence of a particular conduct
and thus furnish additional motive to influence conduct. It can be effectual law when it is
reinforced by custom.

Salmond observed that legislation is that source of law which consists in the declaration of legal
rules by a competent authority. According to him, the term 'legislation' as a source of law is used
in three different senses. In its strict sense, it is that source from where the rules of law declared
by competent authority are framed. In its widest sense, legislation includes all methods of law-
making. In this sense, legislation may either be (i) direct, or (ii) indirect. The law declared by
legislature is called direct legislation whereas all other actions through which law is made are
species of indirect legislation. In this third sense, legislation includes every expression of the will
of the legislature whether making law or not.

Bodenheimer describes "legislation as a source of law which is applied to the deliberate creation
of legal precepts by the legislative organ of the Government which is set up for this purpose and
which gives articulate expression to such legal precepts in a formulized legal document".

Analytical Positivist– A typical law is a statute and legislation is the normal source of lawmaking.
The majority of exponents of this school do not approve that the courts also can formulate law.
They do not admit the claim of custom as a source of law. Thus, they regard only legislation as the
source of law.

Historical School of Thought– Legislation is the least creative of the sources of law. The legislative
purpose of the legislation is to give better form and more effective the custom which is
spontaneously developed by the people. They do not regard legislation as a source of law.

LEGISLATION IS GENERALLY USED IN LIMITED SENSE

It denotes the laying down of legal rules by a sovereign and subordinate legislature. An important
distinction between lawmaking by legislature and lawmaking by a court must be clearly
understood. When the legislature makes a law, it does not have any actual disputes before it and it
lays down general rules for the future, without reference to any actual dispute. Courts, on the other
hand, are engaged in the settlement of disputes and any law making that they may do is only with
reference to actual disputes before them and only in so far as is necessary for their solution. Thus
we may say that judicial lawmaking is incidental to the solving of legal disputes; while lawmaking
is the main function of the legislature. Legislation is most accurately termed as the enacted law,
all other forms being distinguished as un-enacted. However, in a jurisprudential sense, Legislation
includes only an expression of the will of the legislature directed to the making of the rules of law.

“CASE LAW IS GOLD IN THE MINE-A FEW GRAINS OF THE PRECIOUS METAL
TO THE TONS OF USELESS MATTER-WHILE STATUTE LAW IS A COIN OF THE
REALM READY FOR IMMEDIATE USE.” – SALMOND

Legislation or “Statutory law” is a law or the process of making a law which is “enacted” by a
legislature while the legislature is the body or chamber of people who make, amend or repeal laws.
An item or piece of legislation is known as a bill before it becomes a law. The “paramount
consideration “in enacting laws in a ‘Welfare State’ should be “the best interests of the people,
“particularly women and children, in which a standard is echoed throughout the legal instruments
on women and children’s rights, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes.

Purpose of Legislation-

Legislation can have many purposes, for example, to regulate, to authorize, to prescribe, to
provide, to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict and repeal.

SUPREME AND SUBORDINATE LEGISLATION

Legislation may either be supreme or subordinate. Legislation is supreme when it proceeds from
the sovereign power in the State and is incapable of being repealed, annulled or controlled by any
other legislative authority. On the other hand, subordinate legislation proceeds from any authority
other than the sovereign power. It is dependent for its continued existence and validity on some
supreme authority. Thus in England the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty implies supremacy
and omnipotence of the British Parliament. Therefore, it possesses the power of supreme
legislation. In India, however, the Parliament is sovereign but not supreme although it possesses
the power of supreme legislation.1 Legislation by bodies inferior to the sovereign constitutes
subordinate legislation.

Validity of Subordinate Legislation_

In order that the exercise of delegated legislative power may be valid, certain conditions must be
satisfied. These conditions are:

(i) The parent Act, i.e., the Act under which the power to make subordinate legislation is exercised,
must be valid.

(ii) The delegation clause in the parent Act must be valid.

(iii) The statutory instrument so made, must be in conformity with the delegation clause in point
of (a) substance, (b) procedure, and (c) form.

(iv) The statutory instrument must not violate certain general norms laid down by judicial
decisions, e.g., norms regarding ouster of court jurisdiction, imposing a penalty or tax, giving
retrospective effect etc.

(v) The statutory instrument must not violate any of the fundamental rights3 guaranteed by the
Constitution or any other provision of the Constitution.

Kinds of Subordinate Legislation_

The chief forms of subordinate legislation are as follows:

1. COLONIAL LEGISLATION- the British colonies and other dependencies were conferred
limited power of self-government in varying degrees by the Imperial legislature. The
colonies in exercise of this power, enjoyed limited power of law-making. But the laws so
made by colonial governments could be repealed, altered or superseded by the Imperial
legislature, namely, the British Parliament. However, after the passing of the Statute of
Westminster of 1931, the self-governing Dominions under the Crown have been given
power to make law independently subject to nominal supremacy of the British Crown.
2. EXECUTIVE LEGISLATION- the legislature, i.e., the Parliament quite often delegates its
rule-making power to certain departments of the executive organ of Government. The rules
made in pursuance of this delegated power have the force of law. They may, however, be
repealed or superseded by the legislature as and when deemed necessary to do so. Keeton
suggests that this species of subordinate legislation has given rise to a vast body of rules
known as administrative law which is commonly called 'public law' because it describes
 the nature of the activity of the executive department of the government in action.‘ In
France, it is known as droit administratif. Sir Ivor Jennings has defined administrative law
as “the law relating to administration which determines the organization, powers and duties
of administrative authorities in the State". Executive legislation in India includes power to
make rules, regulations and bye-laws for administrative matters such as fixing of price, or
deciding suitable place for market, taxation, setting up incorporated bodies etc.
3. JUDICIAL LEGISLATION- In certain cases, legislative power of rule-making is
delegated to the judiciary and the superior courts are authorized to make rules for regulation
of their own procedure in exercise of this power. This is also known as judicial legislation
which should not be confused with judicial precedents where the Court formulates a new
principle of law through its judicial decision. The Constitution of India has conferred the
power of rule-making to the Supreme Court under Article 145. Similar power is conferred
on the High Courts under Article 227 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court and the High
Court may frame rules and regulations for the conduct ‘of its business and exercising its
supervisory power over the subordinate courts. Article 145 empowers the Supreme Court
to make rules relating to the following matters :-~
(1) for setting up norms for practicing lawyers;
(2) for the procedure of appeals and time-limit for such appeals;
(3) for proceedings relating to enforcement of fundamental rights;
(4) for transfer of cases to different High Courts;
(5) for disposal of criminal appeals coming from High Courts;
(6) for laying down conditions for review petitions;
(7) for making rules relating to costs and fees etc.
(8) for making rules for grant of bail, bonds, security etc.;
(9) for making rules relating to stay of proceedings;
(10) for laying down the procedure for the removal of the Chairman or 'a member of the
Public: Service Commission on charges of misconduct.
The rules framed by the Supreme Court under Article 145 are subject to two limitations,
namely: (1) They should be under the law enacted by the Parliament, and (2) the approval
of the President is necessary for such rules.
 4. MUNICIPAL LEGISLATION- The municipal authorities are allowed within their areas
to make bye-laws for limited purposes such as water tax, land urban cess, property-tax,
town planning, public health, sanitation etc.
5. AUTONOMOUS LEGISLATION- the State may occasionally allow private entities or
bodies, such as universities, companies, and corporation etc. to make bye laws for
regulating the conduct of their business. These bye-Laws are framed in exercise of the rule-
making power conferred on these bodies by the State. For instance, Railways have their
own rules for the conduct of their business.

Delegated Legislation_

It may be reiterated that legislation by executive is a kind of subordinate legislation. Undoubtedly,

the main function of executive is to enforce law, but for the regulation of its departments, the
power of rulemaking is delegated to them. Strictly speaking, delegated legislation is a legislation
made by any authority other than the legislature. [t denotes the rules, orders, notifications, bye-
laws or directions made by the executive authorities under the law passed by the Parliament. The
term ‘delegated legislation’ is generally used in two senses. In one sense, it means the exercise of
power of rule-making by the Executive under the authority delegated to it by the Legislature. In
the other sense, it means the output of the exercise of that power. In other words, when the function
of legislation is entrusted to organs other than the legislature itself, the legislation made by such
organs is called delegated legislation, which may be in the form of rules, regulations, byelaws,
orders, schemes, directions, circulars 0r notifications, etc. It is significant to note that there has
been enormous increase of delegated legislation in India in recent time. The situation today has
reached a point where delegated legislation outnumbers the legislative enactments.

Delegated Legislation Differentiated from Executive Legislation-

It must, however, be stated that delegated legislation is not to be confused with the executive
legislation. The former stands for the laws made by the authorities other than the legislative bodies
on whom the Legislature delegates its legislative power. The latter stands for the laws made by the
President and the Governor respectively under Articles 123 and 213 of the; Constitution of India.
These laws are in the fem of Ordinances which have the force of law. Such Ordinances are issued
by the respective executive heads the ground of urgency when Legislature is not in session and
they cease to have effect if not ratified within six weeks after the assembly of the Legislature. The
source of delegated legislation is always the Act of the Parliament whereas the source of the
executive legislation is a constitutional provision.

Growth of Delegated Legislation-

Professor Griffith writes that 1% growth of delegated legislation in the 19th and 20th centuries
was inevitably due to fundamental changes in the theory and practice of the Government. For the
performance of their executive and administrative functions, the government required legislative
powers in their own fields. The main factors which contributed to the growth of delegated
legislation may briefly be stated as follows:

1. The newly evolved concept of welfare State has caused tremendous increase in the work of the
government which necessitated a huge bulk of legislation. The Parliament hardly has time to deal
with this wide range of legislation efficiently and, therefore, it concentrates only on defining the
essential legislative principles and leaves the details to be worked out by the executive.

2. The Parliament found it difficult to lay down details especially in certain fields of technical
nature and therefore, entrusted this task to the departments and ministers concerned. Members of
legislature may be seasoned politicians but they lack expertise and adequate knowledge to deal
with highly technical matters such as nuclear energy, electricity, gas, atomic energy, etc. which
can be efficiently handled only by the experts in the respective field.

3. Besides the pressure of work on the Parliament and lack of adequate technical knowledge about
certain subjects, delegated legislation is also deemed necessary to meet unforeseen contingencies.
It provides for a power of constant adaptation to unknown future conditions without the necessity
of amending the legislation.

4. Delegated legislation is further deemed necessary to meet the cases of emergency arising out of
war, insurrection, floods, economic depression; epidemics etc. The Executive must therefore, be
armed with rule-making power so that it may initiate appropriate remedial action immediately
without waiting for law to be passed by the legislature which is a lengthy process.

5. In certain specific areas such as rationing schemes, imposition of import or export duties,
exchange regulations, etc. expediency demands that law should not become public till it finally
comes into operation. Some kind of confidentiality becomes necessary in the public interest and
therefore, the legislature prefers to delegate power of legislation on such matters to the concerned
executive authorities.

6. The complexities of modern public administration and expending dimensions of the socio-
economic functions of the state have necessitated delegation of legislative powers so as to enable
the executive to device new forms of laws for the effective realization of the goal of socio-
economic justice and implementation of the welfare schemes of the State.

Control of Delegated Legislation-

In order to ensure that delegated legislation is not misused, it has been subjected to three-fold
controls, namely, (1) Procedural control, (2) Parliamentary control, and (3) Judicial control.

1. Procedural Control.-It is not always possible for the Parliament to exercise effective control
over delegated legislation. Certain procedural safeguards are therefore, necessary to keep a
constant watch over the exercise of power by the executive or administrative authorities. The
methods of procedural control may include:

(a) Prior consultation of interests which are likely to be affected by the proposed delegated
legislation;
(b) Prior publicity of proposed rules and regulations; and
(c) Publication of delegated legislation being made mandatory.
In United States, prior consultation with the concerned associations, such as Medical Association
or Country Councils Association or Board of Trade etc. is common and interested parties are given
opportunity to express their views on the proposed legislation. In India, however, there is no
express provision of law for prior consultation but "prior publication" is essential1 under Section
23 of the General Clauses Act, 1897. Likewise, Section 2 of the Statutory Instruments Act, 1946
makes it mandatory that a statute must be published as soon as it is laid before the House of
Parliament. Though there is no such provision in India but the courts have recognised the
importance of this provision in several cases? Publication of delegated legislation has been taken
by the Courts as a corollary of natural justice. The Supreme Court in Raza Buland Sugar Co. v.
Rampur Municipality1 held that the statutory provision requiring publication of rules before
imposition of tax was mandatory but the manner in which the rules were required to be published
was directory, and as there was sufficient compliance with the requirement of publication, the rules
were held to be valid.

2. Parliamentary Control.--Another method of controlling delegated legislation is to lay it before

the Parliament so that members get an opportunity to discuss and at times amend it. In United
States, the executive is not responsible to the legislature and therefore, congressional control of
delegated legislation is mostly indirect through requiring the administrative agencies to submit
periodical and special reports etc. India also follows more or less the same method. This control is
exercised through the committee on subordinate legislation of both the Houses of Parliament which
maintains vigilance on Government's rule-making power and scrutinizes the rules framed by the
executive. The principle underlying Parliamentary control is to keep watch over the rule-making
authorities and provide an opportunity to criticize them if there is abuse of such power on their
part. The control so exercised may be in the form of-(1) proceedings in Parliament or (2) requiring
the offending provision in the delegating statute to be laid on the table of the legislature, or (3)
exercise of control by Parliament through Scrutiny Committees.

3. Judicial Control.-Judiciary also exercises effective control on delegated legislation. Whenever

a law made by the executive is found to be (i) inconsistent with the Constitution or (ii) ultra vires
the parent Act from which the law-making power has been derived, it is declared null and void by
the court. The power of examining the validity of delegated legislation is vested in the Supreme
Court and the High Courts.

In Re Delhi Laws Act2 case the Supreme Court by majority held that the exercise of delegated law-
making power was invalid because the enabling Act exceeded the constitutional limits in
permitting the executive to repeal a law existing in the area. In this case the Supreme Court laid
down the grounds on which the judicial control is exercised. The Court ruled that in India the
Legislature cannot delegate its essential functions or power to the executive. The essential function
of the Legislature is determination of the legislative policy and enacting that policy into a binding
rule of conduct. Therefore, the function of laying down the policy and enacting that policy cannot

1
AIR 1965 SC 895.
2
AIR 1951 SC 347
be delegated. However, once the policy having been laid down by the Legislature and a standard
is set by the statute, the executive may be given the power to make subordinate rules within that
limit and such delegation will not be unconstitutional. Thus once the principles affording guidance
to the subordinate law-making body are laid down by the law, the details may be left to be filled
up by the executive or by other authorities with quasi-legislative power.

Again, in Chintaman Rao v. State of Madhya Pradesh3 the Central Provinces Regulation of
Manufacture of Bidis Act, 1948, permitting imposition of a total prohibition upon those carrying
on business of manufacture of bidis during agricultural season was held to be violative of Article
19 (1) (g) of the Constitution because it interfered with the private business, hence notification
under the Act was void.

Sub Delegation_

It is not uncommon for a body or a person to receive delegated Powers indirectly under a statute.
The legislation so produced is in known is sub delegated legislation. This state of affairs would
appear to be in conflict With the general principle that ’a delegate is not able to delegate further',
i.e., the maxim ‘delegatus non potest delegare’. In other words, the general rule is that where
Parliament gives a power to make law for some specified purpose to a body or person, it can be
exercised only by that body or person alone. Thus in India, sub-delegation of delegated legislative
power without express authority would be invalid1 because a sub-delegated person or body cannot
go beyond his authority, e.g., if Parliament confers power upon A, the evident intention is that it
shall be exercised by A alone and not by anyone else.4 The Essential Commodities Act, 1955
provides a good illustration 'of the process of sub-delegation. Section 3 of the Act confers rule-
making power on the Central Government. This may obviously be called as the first stage of
delegation, namely, by Parliament to the Executive. Section 5 of the Act further empowers the
Central Government to delegate powers to its officers, the State Government and their officers.
This may be regarded as the second stage of delegation (i.e., sub-delegation). When the power is
further sub-delegated by the State Government to its officials, it may be characterized as the third
stage of delegation. As a matter of fact sub-delegation is contrary to the maxim delegatus non
potest delegare which means a delegate cannot further delegate his power. But the maxim merely

3
AIR 1951 SC 118
4
KING EMPEROR v. BENOARI LAL SHARMA, (1945) AC 14 (24) PC
embodies a rule of construction of a statute and does not lay down a rule of law. It is true that
generally sub-delegation of legislative powers is impermissible, yet it can be permitted either when
such power is expressly conferred under the statute or can be inferred by necessary implication.
At times, the Parent Act permits sub-delegation to authorities or officers not below a particular
rank. In such a circumstance, the power can be delegated only to those officers or authorities. Thus
where the enabling Act conferred power on the Chief Commissioner to make rules for the
maintenance of proper system of conservancy and sanitation at fairs, further delegation of this
power to District Magistrate was held to be ultra vires, as the enabling Act conferred power on the
Chief Commissioner and not on the District Magistrate.5

Conditional Legislation-

When a Legislature confers law-making power upon some other body, the legislative power is said
to be delegated and it is a case of delegated legislation. But when the Legislature itself enacts the
law and gives to some other body only the power of determining when it should come into force
or when it should be applied to a particular area or territory of the State, there is no delegation of
legislative power. Instead, it would be a case of conditional delegation. Thus in delegated
legislation, powers of legislation are transferred or delegated which is not the case with conditional
delegation. Conditional delegation takes place where the Legislature empowers the executive to:

(I) extend the operation of an existing law to a particular area or territory,'

(2) determine the time of application of an Act to a given area;
(3) extend the duration of a temporary Act, subject to maximum period fixed by the Legislature;
(4) determine the extent and limits within which it should be operative;
(5) Introduce a special law if the contemplated situation has arisen in the opinion of the
Government.
The distinction between subordinate legislation and conditional legislation has been made clear by
the Supreme Court. In Re Delhi Laws Act case,1 wherein the Court observed that when an
appropriate Legislature enacts a law and authorizes an outside authority to bring it into force in
such area or at such time as it may decide that is conditional legislation and not delegated

5
GANPATI SINGHJI v. STATE OF AJMER, AIR 1995 SC 188
legislation. Pointing out the distinction between the two, the Supreme Court in Hamdard
Dawakhana v. Union of India6 inter alia, observed:

"In conditional legislation, the delegate's power is that of determining when a legislative declared
rule of conduct shall become effective, and the delegated legislation involves delegation of
rulemaking power to an administrative agent. That means the Legislature after having laid down
the broad principles of its policy in the legislation can leave details to be supplied by the
administrative authority.”

LEGISLATION COMPARED WITH OTHER SOURCES OF LAW

Legislation and Precedent-

1. The legislation has its source in the law-making will of the State whereas precedent has its
source in judicial decisions.
2. Legislation is imposed on courts by the Legislature but precedents are created by the courts
themselves.
3. Legislation denotes formal declaration of law by the Legislature whereas precedents are
recognition and application of new principles of law by courts in the administration of justice.
4. Legislation is enacted before a case actually arises but the precedent comes into existence only
after the case has arisen and taken for decision before the court.
5. Legislation is expressed in comprehensive form but the scope of judicial precedent is limited to
identical cases only.
6. Legislation is generally prospective whereas precedent is retrospective in nature.
7. Legislation is declared or published before it is brought into force but precedent comes into
force at once, i.e., as soon as decision is pronounced.
8. Legislation is undertaken with the intention of law-making but it is not so in the case of
precedent. The precedent which includes ratio decidendi and obiter dicta is intended to settle a
specific dispute on the point of law once for all.
9. It is not difficult for the public to know the law enacted by Legislature but the precedent based
on case law is not easily known to the general public. At times even the lawyers who deal with the
law are ignorant about the existence of a particular ruling of the Court.
10. Legislation involves law-making by deductive method whereas case’ law is created by resort
to inductive method.

6
AIR 1960 SC 554
It would thus be seen that legislation as a scarce of law is fat more advantageous than that of the
precedent. It is not merely a source of law, but is equally effective in amending or annulling the
existing law. Precedent, on the other hand, cannot abrogate the existing rule of law. This, in other
words, means that legislation is both, constitutive and abrogative but precedent is merely
constitutive and lacks abrogative capability.
Legislation and Custom-
Pointing out the importance of enacted law over customary law, Keeton observed that in earlier
times legislation was supplemental to customary law but in modern time the position has reversed
and customary law is treated supplementary to the enacted law. Laws enacted by Legislature being
definite, written and comprehensive, they are easy to understand. That apart, enacted law is created
by Legislature therefore; it is an expression of the general will of the people. A custom can be
accepted as a customary law only after it is practiced for a long time. Legislation as a source of
law differs from custom in the following aspects:
1. The existence of legislation is essentially de jure whereas customary law exists de facto.
2. Legislation grows out of the theoretical principles but customary law grows out of practice and
long existence.
3. Legislation as a source is historically much latter as compared with custom which is the oldest
form of law.
4. Legislation is an essential characteristic of modern society whereas the customary law has
developed through primitive societies.
5. Legislation is complete, precise, written in form and easily accessible, whereas customary law
is mostly unwritten (jus non scriptum) and is difficult to trace.
6. Legislation results out of deliberations but custom grows within the society in natural course.
7. Legislation expresses the relationship between men and the State but customary law is based on
relationship between men inter se.

CONCLUSION

“Legis” means law and “latum” means making. Legislation means lawmaking. It also
refers to the law made by the legislature. It may also be defined as the promulgation of
legal rules by an authority which has the power to do so. It is the formal declaration of the
legal rules by the legislative organ of the body politic.
In a wider sense, it includes all the sources of law, any act done with the effect of adding
to or altering the law. When a judge establishes a new principle in a judicial decision, it is
possible to say that he has exercised legislative power and it is also legislation. It frames
new laws, amends the old laws and cancels existing laws in all countries.
Legislation may be broadly classified as Supreme, subordinate legislation. It is Supreme
when the sovereign authority itself makes the law, as the law made by Indian Parliament.
It is subordinate when the sovereign power is delegated to any other authority to make law,
as the power delegated to a corporation to make law.
There are two obvious reasons for legislation being regarded as one of the most effective
sources of law. Firstly, it involves lying down of legal rules by the legislature which the
State recognizes as law. Secondly, it has the force and authority of the State.
Legislation or “Statutory law” is a law or the process of making a law which is “enacted”
by a legislature while the legislature is the body or chamber of people who make, amend
or repeal laws. An item or piece of legislation is known as a bill before it becomes a law.
The “paramount consideration “in enacting laws in a ‘Welfare State’ should be “the best
interests of the people, “particularly women and children, in which a standard is echoed
throughout the legal instruments on women and children’s rights, Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes.
Legislation can have many purposes, for example, to regulate, to authorize, to prescribe,
to provide, to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict and repeal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Dr. N.V. Paranjape, Studies in Jurisprudence and Legal theory, Central Law Agency,
8th Ed., 2018
2. Holland T.E. Jurisprudence (13th Ed.)
3. Austin: Jurisprudence Vol. 3
4. Keeton C.G.: Elements of Jurisprudence (2nd Ed.)
5. Gray J.C., The Nature and Sources of the Law, 2nd Ed., 1921