Acts of a legislature declaring, commanding, or prohibiting something, expressed according to the forms necessary to constitute law. For regulations having the force of law issued by a government agency in order to interpret or implement the provisions of a statute, use "administrative regulations."

statutes(P,,U,English-P,D,U,PN)
statute(,U,English-NP,AD,U,SN)
instruments, statutory(,U,English-NP,UF,U,N)
statutory instruments(,U,English-NP,UF,U,N)
wetten(P,,U,Dutch-P,D,U,U)
wet(,U,Dutch-NP,AD,U,U)
estatutos(P,,U,Spanish-P,D,U,PN)
estatuto(,U,Spanish-NP,AD,U,SN)
ley parlamentaria(,U,Spanish-NP,UF,U,SN)
法令(立法法案)　(P,,U,Chinese (traditional)-P,D,,)
fa ling(P,,U,Chinese (transliterated Wade-Giles)-P,UF,U,U)
fǎ lìng(P,,U,Chinese (transliterated Hanyu Pinyin)-P,UF,U,U)
fa ling (P,,U,Chinese (transliterated Pinyin without tones)-P,UF,U,U)

Top of the AAT hierarchies
....Objects Facet
........Visual and Verbal Communication (Hierarchy Name)
............Information Forms (Hierarchy Name)
................<information forms (Guide Term)>
....................<document genres>
........................<document genres by function>
............................records (documents)
................................<records by provenance>
....................................government records
........................................<government records by function>
............................................legislative records
................................................<legislative records by form or function>
....................................................legislative acts
........................................................statutes

meaning/usage overlaps with....

laws(documents)

Dutch....	Voorschriften of regels afkomstig van de wetgever die iets bekendmaken, gebieden of verbieden, en die conform de noodzakelijke vormvoorschriften tot stand zijn gekomen. Voor regels met kracht van wet, uitgevaardigd door een overheidsinstantie om de bepalingen van een wet te interpreteren of ten uitvoer te brengen, wordt 'bestuurlijke maatregelen' gebruikt.
Spanish....	Actos de un cuerpo legislativo declarando, ordenando o prohibiendo algo, expresados de acuerdo a las formalidades necesarias para constituir leyes. Para regulaciones con fuerza de ley emanadas de una agencia gubernamental a fin de interpretar o implementar las disposiciones de un estatuto, use "regulación administrativa".
Chinese (traditional)....	立法機關按制定法律之必要形式所宣布、命令或禁止某事的法案。若為詮釋或施行某法令之條款，而由政府機構發布並具有法律強制力的規章，則稱「行政規章」。

statutes............	[VP]
.................	Hickerson and Engst, Terms for use in Field 655 (1984)
.................	Black's Law Dictionary (1951)
.................	CDMARC Subjects: LCSH (1988-)
.................	RIBA, Architectural Keywords (1982)
.................	RILA, Subject Headings (1975-1990)
.................	Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961)
.................	Candidate term Candidate comment -- NALLON -- 11/95; request clarification of relationship between "legislative acts" and "statutes"
statute............	[VP]
.................	Getty Vocabulary Program rules
instruments, statutory............	[VP]
.................	Getty Vocabulary Program rules
statutory instruments............	[VP]
.................	Harrod's Librarians' Glossary (1984)
wetten............	[Bureau AAT]
.................	AAT-Ned (1994-)
wet............	[Bureau AAT]
.................	AAT-Ned (1994-)
estatutos............	[VP]
.................	Getty Vocabulary Program rules
estatuto............	[VP]
.................	Moliner, Diccionario de uso del español (2004) I:1222
ley parlamentaria............	[VP]
.................	Beigbeder, Nuevo Diccionario politécnico de las lenguas española e inglesa (1997)
法令(立法法案)............	[AS-Academia Sinica]
.................	國家教育研究院－雙語詞彙、學術名詞暨辭書資訊網 October 13, 2014
.................	智慧藏百科全書網 October 13, 2014
.................	DICT.TW 線上字典 October 13, 2014
Subject:............	[Bureau AAT]
.................	RIBA, Architectural Keywords (1982) Law
.................	Van Dale groot woordenboek (1994)

Getty AAT: 300027891 Getty AAT: http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=costume&logic=AND¬e=&subjectid=300027891
ASDC Union Catalog： statutes 、statute 、instruments, statutory 、statutory instruments 、wetten 、wet 、estatutos 、estatuto 、ley parlamentaria 、法令 、fa ling 、fǎ lìng 、fa ling