Statutes (Latin statuta) are legal regulations with a narrow range of (territorial or material) applicability, that is, relating to groups of persons or organs. They presuppose the existence of farther-reaching, superordinate regulations, which they are issued to supplement, resolve, or implement.

The concept of the statute originates in the ius commune, in contrast to which, as general law, it encompasses local legal systems. As the ius commune became more widely established, particularly after 1500 with the reception of ius commune, the concept of the statute came …