Bill vs. Law — What's the Difference?
By Fiza Rafique & Urooj Arif — Updated on March 20, 2024
A bill is a proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law, presented for debate and approval. Once a bill is approved and enacted, it becomes a law, a rule that governs behavior and is enforceable by penalties.
Difference Between Bill and Law
Table of Contents
ADVERTISEMENT
Key Differences
Bills are the starting point in the legislative process. They can be proposed by various members or bodies within a legislative framework, such as parliament or congress, depending on the country's governance structure. Bills detail potential new laws or modifications to existing laws and require approval through a specific legislative process that typically involves several stages of debate, amendment, and voting. This process varies by jurisdiction but generally includes scrutiny by multiple committees and possibly both lower and upper houses of the legislative body.
Once a bill has successfully passed all required stages of the legislative process and has been signed by the relevant authority (such as a president or monarch), it becomes a law. Laws are rules that are binding on the population; they dictate what individuals may or may not do and are enforceable through penalties, which can include fines or imprisonment.
While a bill represents a proposal subject to change and debate, a law is a final, enacted rule with legal force. The transformation of a bill into a law signifies the conclusion of the legislative process, reflecting the approval of the proposed measures by the governing bodies and the head of state or government.
Understanding the difference between a bill and a law is crucial for comprehending how governance works and how policy changes are proposed, debated, and ultimately enforced to shape societal conduct.
Comparison Chart
Definition
A proposal for a new law or a change to an existing law.
A rule that has been enacted and is enforceable by penalties.
ADVERTISEMENT
Stage
Preliminary, subject to debate and amendment.
Final, after approval and enactment.
Process
Goes through various stages in the legislative body, including debate, amendment, and voting.
Becomes effective after it is signed by the head of state or the designated authority.
Authority
Proposed by members of the legislative body.
Enforced by the government and legal system.
Purpose
To suggest new rules or changes to existing rules.
To regulate behavior and maintain order in society.
Compare with Definitions
Bill
A formal proposal for legislation.
The senator introduced a bill to improve public healthcare.
Law
A system of rules recognized by a country or community.
The new traffic law imposes stricter penalties for speeding.
Bill
Becomes law upon approval and enactment.
After months of deliberation, the bill was finally signed into law.
Law
Reflects societal values and norms.
The civil rights laws mark significant progress in equality and justice.
Bill
Can be proposed by government members or, in some systems, by citizens.
A citizen's initiative led to the proposal of a new environmental bill.
Law
Regulates public and private behaviors.
Labor laws ensure fair work conditions for employees.
Bill
Subject to debate and amendment.
The bill underwent several amendments before being passed.
Law
Can be created or changed only through the legislative process.
The law was amended to include cyberbullying as a punishable offense.
Bill
Needs to pass through several legislative stages.
The education bill is currently under review by the committee.
Law
Governed by the legal system and enforceable through penalties.
Breaking environmental laws can result in heavy fines.
Bill
An itemized list or statement of fees or charges.
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.
Bill
A statement or list of particulars, such as a theater program or menu.
Law
A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority.
Bill
The entertainment offered by a theater.
Law
The body of rules and principles governing the affairs of a community and enforced by a political authority; a legal system
International law.
Bill
A public notice, such as an advertising poster.
Law
The condition of social order and justice created by adherence to such a system
A breakdown of law and civilized behavior.
Bill
A piece of legal paper money
A ten-dollar bill.
Law
A set of rules or principles dealing with a specific area of a legal system
Tax law.
Criminal law.
Bill
(Slang) One hundred dollars.
Law
A statute, ordinance, or other rule enacted by a legislature.
Bill
A bill of exchange.
Law
A judicially established legal requirement; a precedent.
Bill
(Obsolete) A promissory note.
Law
The system of judicial administration giving effect to the laws of a community
All citizens are equal before the law.
Bill
A draft of a proposed law presented for approval to a legislative body.
Law
Legal action or proceedings; litigation
Submit a dispute to law.
Bill
The law enacted from such a draft
A bottle bill in effect in three states.
The GI Bill.
Law
An impromptu or extralegal system of justice substituted for established judicial procedure
Frontier law.
Bill
A document containing the formal statement of a case in equity; a complaint seeking equitable relief.
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).
Bill
An indictment or charge in an indictment against an accused person.
Law
(Informal) A police officer. Often used with the.
Bill
A structure projecting from the head of a bird, consisting of the jaws and their horny covering and including the upper and lower mandibles; a beak.
Law
The science and study of law; jurisprudence.
Bill
A similar horny mouth part, such as that of a turtle.
Law
Knowledge of law.
Bill
The visor of a cap.
Law
The profession of an attorney.
Bill
(Nautical)The tip of the fluke of an anchor.
Law
Something, such as an order or a dictum, having absolute or unquestioned authority
The commander's word was law.
Bill
A billhook.
Law
A body of principles or precepts held to express the divine will, especially as revealed in the Bible.
Bill
A halberd or similar weapon with a hooked blade and a long handle.
Law
The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Bill
To present a statement of costs or charges to.
Law
A code of principles based on morality, conscience, or nature.
Bill
To enter on a statement of costs or on a particularized list.
Law
A rule or custom generally established in a particular domain
The unwritten laws of good sportsmanship.
Bill
To advertise or schedule by public notice or as part of a program.
Law
A way of life
The law of the jungle.
Bill
To declare or describe officially; proclaim
A policy that was billed as an important departure for the administration.
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.
Bill
To touch beaks together.
Law
A generalization based on consistent experience or results
The law of supply and demand.
Bill
Any of various bladed or pointed hand weapons, originally designating an Anglo-Saxon sword, and later a weapon of infantry, especially in the 14th and 15th centuries, commonly consisting of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, with a short pike at the back and another at the top, attached to the end of a long staff.
Law
(Mathematics) A general principle or rule that is assumed or that has been proven to hold between expressions.
Bill
A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle, used in pruning, etc.; a billhook.
Law
A principle of organization, procedure, or technique
The laws of grammar.
The laws of visual perspective.
Bill
Somebody armed with a bill; a billman.
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.
Bill
A pickaxe, or mattock.
Law
The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
Property law
Commercial hunting and fishing law
Bill
(nautical) The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke (also called the peak).
Law
Common law, as contrasted with equity.
Bill
The beak of a bird, especially when small or flattish; sometimes also used with reference to a platypus, turtle, or other animal.
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.
Bill
A beak-like projection, especially a promontory.
There is a lighthouse on Portland Bill.
Law
(more generally) A rule, such as:
Bill
Of a cap or hat: the brim or peak, serving as a shade to keep sun off the face and out of the eyes.
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
Bill
A written list or inventory. (Now obsolete except in specific senses or set phrases; bill of lading, bill of goods, etc.)
Law
A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
The laws of playwriting and poetry
Bill
A document, originally sealed; a formal statement or official memorandum. (Now obsolete except with certain qualifying words; bill of health, bill of sale etc.)
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.
Bill
A draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.
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.
Bill
A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.
Law
Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
The law of scarcity
The law of supply and demand
Bill
A piece of paper money; a banknote.
Law
(linguistics) A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.
Grimm's law
Dahl's law
Bill
One hundred dollars.
Law
(cricket) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
Bill
A written note of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; an invoice.
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.
Bill
A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods
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
Bill
A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain sum at a future day or on demand, with or without interest, as may be stated in the document; a bill of exchange. In the United States, it is usually called a note, a note of hand, or a promissory note.
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.
Bill
A set of items presented together.
Law
Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules.
She went to university to study law.
Bill
The bell, or boom, of the bittern.
Law
Litigation; legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc).
They were quick to go to law.
Bill
(transitive) To dig, chop, etc., with a bill.
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.
Bill
(obsolete) to peck
Law
(aviation) A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft.
Normal law; alternate law; direct law
Bill
To stroke bill against bill, with reference to doves; to caress in fondness
Law
(fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
Bill
(transitive) To advertise by a bill or public notice.
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".}}
Bill
(transitive) To charge; to send a bill to.
Law
(obsolete) A tumulus of stones.
Bill
A beak, as of a bird, or sometimes of a turtle or other animal.
Law
A hill.
Bill
The bell, or boom, of the bittern
The bittern's hollow bill was heard.
Law
A score; share of expense; legal charge.
Bill
A cutting instrument, with hook-shaped point, and fitted with a handle; - used in pruning, etc.; a billhook. When short, called a hand bill, when long, a hedge bill.
Law
(obsolete) To work as a lawyer; to practice law.
Bill
A weapon of infantry, in the 14th and 15th centuries. A common form of bill consisted of a broad, heavy, double-edged, hook-shaped blade, having a short pike at the back and another at the top, and attached to the end of a long staff.
France had no infantry that dared to face the English bows end bills.
Law
To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
Bill
One who wields a bill; a billman.
Law
(nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern.
Bill
A pickax, or mattock.
Law
(informal) To enforce the law.
Bill
The extremity of the arm of an anchor; the point of or beyond the fluke.
Law
To subject to legal restrictions.
Bill
A declaration made in writing, stating some wrong the complainant has suffered from the defendant, or a fault committed by some person against a law.
Law
(dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks.
Bill
A writing binding the signer or signers to pay a certain sum at a future day or on demand, with or without interest, as may be stated in the document.
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.
Bill
A form or draft of a law, presented to a legislature for enactment; a proposed or projected law.
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.
Bill
A paper, written or printed, and posted up or given away, to advertise something, as a lecture, a play, or the sale of goods; a placard; a poster; a handbill.
She put up the bill in her parlor window.
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.
Bill
An account of goods sold, services rendered, or work done, with the price or charge; a statement of a creditor's claim, in gross or by items; as, a grocer's bill.
Law
An organic rule, as a constitution or charter, establishing and defining the conditions of the existence of a state or other organized community.
Bill
Any paper, containing a statement of particulars; as, a bill of charges or expenditures; a weekly bill of mortality; a bill of fare, etc.
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.
Bill
To strike; to peck.
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.
Bill
To join bills, as doves; to caress in fondness.
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.
Bill
To work upon ( as to dig, hoe, hack, or chop anything) with a bill.
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.
Bill
To advertise by a bill or public notice.
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.
Bill
To charge or enter in a bill; as, to bill goods.
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.
Bill
A statute in draft before it becomes law;
They held a public hearing on the bill
Law
An oath, as in the presence of a court.
Bill
An itemized statement of money owed for goods shipped or services rendered;
He paid his bill and left
Send me an account of what I owe
Law
An exclamation of mild surprise.
Bill
A piece of paper money (especially one issued by a central bank);
He peeled off five one-thousand-zloty notes
Law
Legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity;
There is a law against kidnapping
Bill
The entertainment offered at a public presentation
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
Bill
A list of particulars (as a playbill or bill of fare)
Law
A generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature;
The laws of thermodynamics
Bill
An advertisement (usually printed on a page or in a leaflet) intended for wide distribution;
He mailed the circular to all subscribers
Law
A rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society
Bill
Horny projecting mouth of a bird
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
Bill
A sign posted in a public place as an advertisement;
A poster advertised the coming attractions
Law
The force of policemen and officers;
The law came looking for him
Bill
A long-handled saw with a curved blade;
He used a bill to prune branches off of the tree
Law
The branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do
Bill
A brim that projects to the front to shade the eyes;
He pulled down the bill of his cap and trudged ahead
Bill
Demand payment;
Will I get charged for this service?
We were billed for 4 nights in the hotel, although we stayed only 3 nights
Bill
Advertise especially by posters or placards;
He was billed as the greatest tenor since Caruso
Bill
Publicize or announce by placards
Common Curiosities
What happens if a bill is vetoed?
A vetoed bill can sometimes be overridden by the legislative body with a supermajority vote, depending on the jurisdiction's laws.
What's the difference between a law and a regulation?
Laws are enacted by the legislative process, while regulations are detailed rules made by executive agencies under the authority of laws.
How do international laws work?
International laws govern the relations between countries and are established through treaties, conventions, and other agreements, requiring ratification by the participating countries.
What is the process for a bill to become a law?
A bill goes through various stages, including proposal, debate, amendment, and voting in the legislative body, and becomes law after approval and enactment by the head of state.
How is a law enforced?
Laws are enforced by governmental agencies and the legal system, including police, courts, and other regulatory bodies.
Why are some bills controversial?
Bills can be controversial due to differing opinions on their potential impact on society, ethical considerations, and political ideologies.
Are all laws applied equally?
In principle, laws are meant to apply equally to everyone, but in practice, their application can be influenced by various factors including interpretation, enforcement practices, and legal precedents.
Can anyone propose a bill?
While typically legislators propose bills, some systems allow for citizen initiatives to propose legislation, subject to certain criteria.
Can a law be changed?
Yes, laws can be changed or repealed through the legislative process, starting with the proposal of a new bill.
What role do citizens play in the legislative process?
Citizens can influence the legislative process through voting, participating in public consultations, petitioning their representatives, and, in some cases, proposing legislation directly.
Share Your Discovery
Previous Comparison
Physical vs. Physiological
Next Comparison
Pause vs. BreakAuthor Spotlight
Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Co-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.
