Act vs. Law — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Urooj Arif — Updated on April 18, 2024
An act is a written document passed by legislative bodies, whereas a law is any rule enforced by the government.
Difference Between Act and Law
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
An act is a formal document that has been deliberated and passed by a legislative body, such as a parliament or congress, reflecting a specific piece of legislation. On the other hand, a law encompasses not only acts passed by legislative bodies but also regulations and decisions made by courts, as well as established customs that are enforceable by a judicial system.
Acts are usually specific in nature, drafted and enacted to address particular issues, add to or amend existing legislation. Whereas, laws can be broader in scope, including statutory laws derived from acts, common laws developed through court rulings, and administrative laws created by governmental agencies.
The process of an act becoming a law varies significantly by country but typically involves proposal, discussion, voting in a legislative body, and formal approval by an executive authority (like a president or monarch). Laws, however, become enforceable immediately upon an act’s enactment or through a judicial decision or administrative regulation.
Acts are documented and codified as part of a country’s statutory records, making them accessible for public viewing. In contrast, laws are interpreted and applied by courts and law enforcement agencies, which may use a combination of statutory, case, and customary laws to govern conduct.
Acts can be repealed, amended, or overridden by subsequent acts from the legislative body. Laws, encompassing a broader category, evolve more dynamically through changes in acts, judicial interpretations, or shifts in customary practices enforced by the courts.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
A proposal approved by a legislative body to become a statute.
Rules established and enforced by governmental authority.
Scope
Specific, targeting particular issues or amendments.
Broad, encompassing statutory, administrative, and common law.
Creation
By legislative bodies through proposal, debate, and approval.
By legislative, judicial, or administrative entities.
Documentation
Codified and publicized in government records.
Applied and interpreted in various legal contexts.
Evolution
Can be amended or repealed by new acts.
Evolves through new acts, judicial decisions, or regulations.
Compare with Definitions
Act
A document expressing a legislative decision or regulation.
The act was signed into law by the President last Thursday.
Law
A system of rules created and enforced through social or governmental institutions.
Traffic laws regulate vehicle operation on public roads.
Act
A bill passed by a legislature and formally enacted into law.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark in American legislative history.
Law
Principles established by judicial decision.
This law was established by a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
Act
A statutory plan passed by parliament.
The new act imposes stricter penalties for traffic violations.
Law
Statutes derived from legislative acts.
Local laws reflect the statutes enacted by the state government.
Act
A written ordinance of Congress or another legislative body.
The act to improve public healthcare facilities was approved unanimously.
Law
Binding customs or practices of a community.
Local law includes traditions that have been legally recognized.
Act
A measure taken by a government to address an issue or regulate a matter.
The environmental protection act was enacted in 2021.
Law
A rule defining correct procedures or conduct.
The law of contract specifies obligations that legally binding agreements must fulfill.
Act
The process of doing or performing something
The act of thinking.
Law
Law is a system of rules created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and the art of justice.
Act
Something done or performed; a deed
A charitable act.
Law
A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority.
Act
(Law) Something done that has legal significance
A criminal act.
Law
The body of rules and principles governing the affairs of a community and enforced by a political authority; a legal system
International law.
Act
A statute or other law formally adopted by a legislative body
An act of Congress.
Law
The condition of social order and justice created by adherence to such a system
A breakdown of law and civilized behavior.
Act
A formal written record of proceedings or transactions.
Law
A set of rules or principles dealing with a specific area of a legal system
Tax law.
Criminal law.
Act
One of the major divisions of a play, opera, or film.
Law
A statute, ordinance, or other rule enacted by a legislature.
Act
A performance or entertainment usually forming part of a longer presentation
A juggling act.
A magic act.
Law
A judicially established legal requirement; a precedent.
Act
The actor or actors presenting such a performance
Joined the act in Phoenix.
Law
The system of judicial administration giving effect to the laws of a community
All citizens are equal before the law.
Act
A manifestation of intentional or unintentional insincerity; a pose
Put on an act.
Law
Legal action or proceedings; litigation
Submit a dispute to law.
Act
To play the part of; assume the dramatic role of
She plans to act Ophelia in summer stock.
Law
An impromptu or extralegal system of justice substituted for established judicial procedure
Frontier law.
Act
To perform (a role) on the stage
Act the part of the villain.
Law
An agency or agent responsible for enforcing the law. Often used with the
"The law ... stormed out of the woods as the vessel was being relieved of her cargo" (Sid Moody).
Act
To behave like or pose as; impersonate
Don't act the fool.
Law
(Informal) A police officer. Often used with the.
Act
To behave in a manner suitable for
Act your age.
Law
The science and study of law; jurisprudence.
Act
To behave or comport oneself
She acts like a born leader.
Law
Knowledge of law.
Act
To perform in a dramatic role or roles.
Law
The profession of an attorney.
Act
To be suitable for theatrical performance
This scene acts well.
Law
Something, such as an order or a dictum, having absolute or unquestioned authority
The commander's word was law.
Act
To behave affectedly or unnaturally; pretend.
Law
A body of principles or precepts held to express the divine will, especially as revealed in the Bible.
Act
To appear or seem to be
The dog acted ferocious.
Law
The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Act
To carry out an action
We acted immediately. The governor has not yet acted on the bill.
Law
A code of principles based on morality, conscience, or nature.
Act
To operate or function in a specific way
His mind acts quickly.
Law
A rule or custom generally established in a particular domain
The unwritten laws of good sportsmanship.
Act
To serve or function as a substitute for another
A coin can act as a screwdriver.
Law
A way of life
The law of the jungle.
Act
To produce an effect
Waited five minutes for the anesthetic to act.
Law
A statement describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met
The law of gravity.
Act
(countable) Something done, a deed.
An act of goodwill
Law
A generalization based on consistent experience or results
The law of supply and demand.
Act
Actuality.
Law
(Mathematics) A general principle or rule that is assumed or that has been proven to hold between expressions.
Act
(theology) Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work.
Law
A principle of organization, procedure, or technique
The laws of grammar.
The laws of visual perspective.
Act
A product of a legislative body, a statute.
Law
(usually with "the") The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
The courts interpret the law but should not make it.
In theory, entrapment is against the law.
Act
The process of doing something.
He was caught in the act of stealing.
Law
The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
Property law
Commercial hunting and fishing law
Act
(countable) A formal or official record of something done.
Law
Common law, as contrasted with equity.
Act
A division of a theatrical performance.
The pivotal moment in the play was in the first scene of the second act.
Law
A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way.
There is a law against importing wallabies.
A new law forbids driving on that road.
The court ruled that the executive order was not law and nullified it.
Act
(countable) A performer or performers in a show.
Which act did you prefer? The soloist or the band?
Law
(more generally) A rule, such as:
Act
(countable) Any organized activity.
Law
Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. mores.}}
"Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you" is a good law to follow.
The law of self-preservation
Act
(countable) A display of behaviour.
Law
A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
The laws of playwriting and poetry
Act
A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student.
Law
A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. theory.}}
The laws of thermodynamics
Newton's third law of motion states that to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.
This is one of several laws derived from his general theory expounded in the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
Act
(countable) A display of behaviour meant to deceive.
To put on an act
Law
A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.
Mathematical laws can be proved purely through mathematics, without scientific experimentation.
Act
Senseid|en|act of parliament}} (law) {{ellipsis of act of parliament
Law
Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
The law of scarcity
The law of supply and demand
Act
(intransitive) To do something.
If you don't act soon, you will be in trouble.
Law
(linguistics) A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.
Grimm's law
Dahl's law
Act
To do (something); to perform.
Law
(cricket) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
Act
(intransitive) To perform a theatrical role.
I started acting at the age of eleven in my local theatre.
Law
The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules.
They worked to maintain law and order.
It was a territory without law, marked by violence.
Act
(intransitive) Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly).
Law
(informal) A person or group that act(s) with authority to uphold such rules and order (for example, one or more police officers).
Here comes the law — run!
Then the law arrived on the scene
Act
(intransitive) To behave in a certain manner for an indefinite length of time.
A dog which acts aggressively is likely to bite.
I believe that Bill's stuck-up because of the way that he acts.
He's acting strangely - I think there's something wrong with him.
Law
The profession that deals with such rules (as lawyers, judges, police officers, etc).
He is studying for a career in law.
She has practiced law in New York for twenty years.
Act
(copulative) To convey an appearance of being.
He acted unconcerned so the others wouldn't worry.
Law
Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules.
She went to university to study law.
Act
(intransitive) To do something that causes a change binding on the doer.
Act on behalf of John
Law
Litigation; legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc).
They were quick to go to law.
Act
To have an effect (on).
High-pressure oxygen acts on the central nervous system and may cause convulsions or death.
Gravitational force acts on heavy bodies.
Law
An allowance of distance or time (a head start) given to a weaker (human or animal) competitor in a race, to make the race more fair.
Act
(transitive) To play (a role).
He's been acting Shakespearean leads since he was twelve.
Law
(aviation) A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft.
Normal law; alternate law; direct law
Act
(transitive) To feign.
He acted the angry parent, but was secretly amused.
Law
(fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
Act
To map via a homomorphism to a group of automorphisms (of).
This group acts on the circle, so it can't be left-orderable!
Law
An oath sworn before a court, especially disclaiming a debt. wager of law", "wage one's law", "perform one's law", "lose one's law".}}
Act
To move to action; to actuate; to animate.
Law
(obsolete) A tumulus of stones.
Act
To enact; to decree.
Law
A hill.
Act
That which is done or doing; the exercise of power, or the effect, of which power exerted is the cause; a performance; a deed.
That best portion of a good man's life,His little, nameless, unremembered actsOf kindness and of love.
Law
A score; share of expense; legal charge.
Act
A state of reality or real existence as opposed to a possibility or possible existence.
The seeds of plants are not at first in act, but in possibility, what they afterward grow to be.
Law
(obsolete) To work as a lawyer; to practice law.
Act
Process of doing; action. In act, in the very doing; on the point of (doing).
This woman was taken . . . in the very act.
Law
To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
Act
To move to action; to actuate; to animate.
Self-love, the spring of motion, acts the soul.
Law
(nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern.
Act
To perform; to execute; to do.
That we act our temporal affairs with a desire no greater than our necessity.
Industry doth beget by producing good habits, and facility of acting things expedient for us to do.
Uplifted hands that at convenient timesCould act extortion and the worst of crimes.
Law
(informal) To enforce the law.
Act
To perform, as an actor; to represent dramatically on the stage.
Law
To subject to legal restrictions.
Act
To assume the office or character of; to play; to personate; as, to act the hero.
Law
(dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks.
Act
To feign or counterfeit; to simulate.
With acted fear the villain thus pursued.
Law
In general, a rule of being or of conduct, established by an authority able to enforce its will; a controlling regulation; the mode or order according to which an agent or a power acts.
These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made.
The law of thy God, and the law of the King.
As if they would confine the Interminable . . . Who made our laws to bind us, not himself.
His mind his kingdom, and his will his law.
Act
To exert power; to produce an effect; as, the stomach acts upon food.
Law
In morals: The will of God as the rule for the disposition and conduct of all responsible beings toward him and toward each other; a rule of living, conformable to righteousness; the rule of action as obligatory on the conscience or moral nature.
Act
To perform actions; to fulfill functions; to put forth energy; to move, as opposed to remaining at rest; to carry into effect a determination of the will.
He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest.
Law
The Jewish or Mosaic code, and that part of Scripture where it is written, in distinction from the gospel; hence, also, the Old Testament.
What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law . . . But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
Act
To behave or conduct, as in morals, private duties, or public offices; to bear or deport one's self; as, we know not why he has acted so.
Law
An organic rule, as a constitution or charter, establishing and defining the conditions of the existence of a state or other organized community.
Act
To perform on the stage; to represent a character.
To show the world how Garrick did not act.
Law
In philosophy and physics: A rule of being, operation, or change, so certain and constant that it is conceived of as imposed by the will of God or by some controlling authority; as, the law of gravitation; the laws of motion; the law heredity; the laws of thought; the laws of cause and effect; law of self-preservation.
Act
A legal document codifying the result of deliberations of a committee or society or legislative body
Law
In mathematics: The rule according to which anything, as the change of value of a variable, or the value of the terms of a series, proceeds; mode or order of sequence.
Act
Something that people do or cause to happen
Law
In arts, works, games, etc.: The rules of construction, or of procedure, conforming to the conditions of success; a principle, maxim; or usage; as, the laws of poetry, of architecture, of courtesy, or of whist.
Act
A subdivision of a play or opera or ballet
Law
Collectively, the whole body of rules relating to one subject, or emanating from one source; - including usually the writings pertaining to them, and judicial proceedings under them; as, divine law; English law; Roman law; the law of real property; insurance law.
Act
A short theatrical performance that is part of a longer program;
He did his act three times every evening
She had a catchy little routine
It was one of the best numbers he ever did
Law
Legal science; jurisprudence; the principles of equity; applied justice.
Reason is the life of the law; nay, the common law itself is nothing else but reason.
Law is beneficence acting by rule.
And sovereign Law, that state's collected willO'er thrones and globes elate,Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.
Act
A manifestation of insincerity;
He put on quite an act for her benefit
Law
Trial by the laws of the land; judicial remedy; litigation; as, to go law.
When every case in law is right.
He found law dear and left it cheap.
Act
Perform an action, or work out or perform (an action);
Think before you act
We must move quickly
The governor should act on the new energy bill
The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel
Law
An oath, as in the presence of a court.
Act
Play a role or part;
Gielgud played Hamlet
She wants to act Lady Macbeth, but she is too young for the role
She played the servant to her husband's master
Law
An exclamation of mild surprise.
Act
Discharge one's duties;
She acts as the chair
In what capacity are you acting?
Law
Legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity;
There is a law against kidnapping
Act
Pretend to have certain qualities or state of mind;
He acted the idiot
She plays deaf when the news are bad
Law
The collection of rules imposed by authority;
Civilization presupposes respect for the law
The great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order
Act
Be suitable for theatrical performance;
This scene acts well
Law
A generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature;
The laws of thermodynamics
Act
Have an effect or outcome; often the one desired or expected;
The voting process doesn't work as well as people thought
How does your idea work in practice?
This method doesn't work
The breaks of my new car act quickly
The medicine works only if you take it with a lot of water
Law
A rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society
Act
Be engaged in an activity, often for no particular purpose other than pleasure
Law
The learned profession that is mastered by graduate study in a law school and that is responsible for the judicial system;
He studied law at Yale
Act
Behave unnaturally or affectedly;
She's just acting
Law
The force of policemen and officers;
The law came looking for him
Act
Perform on a stage or theater;
She acts in this play
He acted in `Julius Caesar'
I played in `A Christmas Carol'
Law
The branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do
Common Curiosities
Can an act be changed once it is a law?
Yes, acts can be amended or repealed by subsequent legislative actions.
What are the main types of law?
Main types include statutory law, derived from acts; common law, developed through court rulings; and administrative law, established by government agencies.
How do courts use laws?
Courts interpret and apply laws to resolve disputes and enforce legal principles.
What is an act in legislative terms?
An act is a formal document passed by a legislative body, which may become law upon approval.
What differentiates a law from an act?
A law is a broader term that includes acts, judicial decisions, and administrative regulations.
What is the difference between a statutory law and a common law?
Statutory laws are based on statutes passed by legislatures, while common laws evolve from judicial decisions.
Are all acts considered laws?
All acts are considered potential laws, but not all become laws until enacted and enforced.
How does an act become a law?
An act becomes law after it is passed by the legislature and formally sanctioned by the head of state or a similar authority.
What role do governmental agencies play in law enforcement?
Agencies enforce laws through regulations and oversight, particularly in areas like healthcare and environmental protection.
How do customary laws come into existence?
Customary laws evolve from long-standing practices that gain legal authority through recognition by courts.
How do administrative laws differ from other types of law?
Administrative laws are rules and regulations established by government agencies, unlike laws directly passed by legislative bodies.
Is an act binding immediately after passing?
An act is binding once it is enacted as law, which may require additional steps like executive approval.
What is the role of the judiciary in the context of laws?
The judiciary interprets and enforces laws, ensuring they are applied consistently and fairly across cases.
What does it mean when an act is repealed?
Repealing an act means that it is formally revoked by legislative action, rendering it no longer law.
How can citizens access laws?
Laws can be accessed through public records, government websites, and legal databases.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
