About Me

Difference between - Act and Code

 ACT v. CODE


It is very important to know  that why in some statues we find Act been  written in the last and in other we find Code been written in the end. So, let us see what the difference is between the two:  

ACT

The Act is formed from a procedure called enactment. It is a decision passed into law.

For an Act a draft is formed which is then to be passed by the Parliament. And once passed it gets assent from the President and thereafter it becomes an Act. So basically, it is a bill which has passed through various  legislative steps required for it and which become law.   

Eg: Land Revenue Act, Income Tax Act etc.

CODE

The code on the other hand is a collection of already existing laws.

So basically, when a new state is formed or when a state is divided etc, then code is formed. When there are laws already existing in the country through means of customs or statues or precedent etc, combining them into one. The process of combining is called codification. And such formed laws are called Code.

For eg: When British came into India they saw different laws prevailing for different religion in India. Therefore, in 1834 First Law Commission was formed under chairmanship of Lord Thomas Babington Macauly. Which then collected and codified these already existing laws and formed a code, which now we know as IPC Indian Penal code.      

Another eg: When Madhya Pradesh was formed in 1956, it was formed by combining 5 different regions.  These 5 regions already had their own different land laws. So, when the MP was formed it required one common law for land and it was then formed by combining or we could say codifying the prevailing land laws of these regions into one. Which is now known as MP Land Revenue code 1959.

Also read - Difference between: Enquiry and Investigation 

Post a Comment

0 Comments