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The law of Pennsylvania consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law. The Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes form the general statutory law.
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The law of Pennsylvania consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law. The Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes form the general statutory law.
The Constitution of Pennsylvania is the foremost source of state law.[ citation needed ] Legislation is enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, published in the Laws of Pennsylvania , and codified in the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes . State agency regulations (sometimes called administrative law) are published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and codified in the Pennsylvania Code .
Pennsylvania's legal system is based on common law, which is interpreted by case law through the decisions of the Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court, which are published in the Pennsylvania State Reports and the Pennsylvania Reporter.[ citation needed ] Municipalities may also promulgate local ordinances. In addition, there are also several sources of persuasive authority, which are not binding authority but are useful to lawyers and judges insofar as they help to clarify the current state of the law.[ citation needed ]
The organic source of state law is the Constitution of Pennsylvania. Although the original Constitution of Pennsylvania was ratified in 1776, more than ten years before the Constitution of the United States, the U.S. Constitution has legal supremacy in matters relating to (or, in pursuance thereof...) powers delegated to the federal government in the U.S. Constitution. The people of the States are supreme and sovereign in the constitutional U.S. system. The people of the States created the federal government and delegated to it a few enumerated powers to which it is properly limited. The current Pennsylvania Constitution dates from 1968.
Pursuant to the state constitution, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has enacted various laws, known as "slip laws". [1] These are published in the official Laws of Pennsylvania , also known as the "Pamphlet Laws" or generically as "session laws". [1] Pennsylvania is currently undertaking its first official codification process in the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes . [2] [3] They are published by the Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau (PALRB or LRB). [4]
There are also several unofficial sources for statutes. The old, unofficial codification is Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes , which is also being updated in line with the new codification as Purdon's Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Annotated. [2] [3] In addition, there are several historic sources of session laws. The Pennsylvania Statutes at Large contain charters, laws in force and obsolete laws from 1682 through 1809; publication began in 1896 and are being digitized by the LRB. [3] [5] Smith's Laws contain public laws in force from 1700 through 1829, and were published prior to the Statutes at Large, beginning in 1810. [3]
Pursuant to certain statutes, state agencies have promulgated bodies of regulations (sometimes called administrative law). The regulations are codified in the Pennsylvania Code (Pa. Code). [6] The Pennsylvania Bulletin is the weekly gazette containing proposed, enacted and emergency rules and other notices and important documents. [7] Changes in the Pennsylvania Code are made via the Pennsylvania Code Reporter, a monthly loose-leaf supplement. [7] They are compiled, edited and supplemented by the Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau. [4]
The legal system of Pennsylvania is based on the common law of England, and[ citation needed ] Pennsylvania has a reception statute providing for the "reception" of English law.[ citation needed ] All statutes, regulations, and ordinances are subject to judicial review.[ citation needed ] Pursuant to common law tradition, the courts of Pennsylvania have developed a large body of case law through the decisions of the Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court.[ citation needed ]
The official reporter for the Supreme Court is the Pennsylvania State Reports since 1845. There are no official reporters for either the Superior Court or the Commonwealth Court, but the Pennsylvania Reporter (a Pennsylvania-specific version of the Atlantic Reporter ) is an unofficial reporter. There is no official reporting of decisions of trial courts, but County Court (Common Pleas Court) opinions are selectively published in the Pennsylvania District and County Reports (Pa. D.&C.). Many counties also publish their own reporters which contain select trial court opinions for that county. [8] Estate and trusts trial cases are published in the Fiduciary Reporter, and local government cases (both trial and appellate) are published in Chrostwaite's Pennsylvania Municipal Law Reporter. [9] The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts also posts opinions from the Supreme Court (from November 1996), Superior Court (from December 1997), and Commonwealth Court (from January 1997) on its website. [9]
Superior Court opinions were published in the Pennsylvania Superior Court Reports from 1895–1997, and Commonwealth Court opinions were published in the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Reports from 1970–1995. [10]
Municipalities may enact and enforce local ordinances. [11]
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly and was unicameral. Since the Constitution of 1776, the legislature has been known as the General Assembly. The General Assembly became a bicameral legislature in 1791.
The Code of Virginia is the statutory law of the U.S. state of Virginia, and consists of the codified legislation of the Virginia General Assembly. The 1950 Code of Virginia is the revision currently in force. The previous official versions were the Codes of 1819, 1849, 1887, and 1919, though other compilations had been printed privately as early as 1733, and other editions have been issued that were not designated full revisions of the code.
The Ohio Revised Code contains all current statutes of the Ohio General Assembly of a permanent and general nature, consolidated into provisions, titles, chapters and sections. However, the only official publication of the enactments of the General Assembly is the Laws of Ohio; the Ohio Revised Code is only a reference.
The law of California consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law. The California Codes form the general statutory law, and most state agency regulations are available in the California Code of Regulations.
The law of Florida consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law and local law. The Florida Statutes form the general statutory law of Florida.
The Government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the governmental structure of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as established by the Pennsylvania Constitution. It is composed of three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. The capital of the Commonwealth is Harrisburg.
The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania is the unified state court system of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Bulletin is a weekly journal produced by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Created on a weekly basis by staff in the Legislative Reference Bureau of Pennsylvania, which is housed at the Pennsylvania State Capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, this publication serves as "the Commonwealth's official gazette for information and rulemaking" and is released for public consumption each Friday at 9 a.m. It lists the recent changes made to various agency rules and regulations within Pennsylvania's state government system and serves as a supplement to the Pennsylvania Code.
The law of Colorado consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, local, and case law. The Colorado Revised Statutes form the general statutory law.
The law of Virginia consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, case law, and local law. The Code of Virginia forms the general statutory law.
The law of New York consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law, and also includes local laws, ordinances, and regulations. The Consolidated Laws form the general statutory law.
The law of Texas is derived from the Constitution of Texas and consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law and local laws and regulations.
The law of Illinois consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law and local law. The Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) form the general statutory law.
The law of Ohio consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory, local and common law. The Ohio Revised Code forms the general statutory law.
The law of the U.S. state of Georgia consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law and local law. The Official Code of Georgia Annotated forms the general statutory law.
The law of Michigan consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law. The Michigan Compiled Laws form the general statutory law.
The law of North Carolina consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, case law, and local law.
The law of New Jersey consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, case law, and local law.
The law of Massachusetts consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory, case law, and local ordinances. The General Laws of Massachusetts form the general statutory law.
The law of Washington consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law, as well as local ordinances. The Revised Code of Washington forms the general statutory law.
Court decisions freely available to the public online, in a consistent format, digitized from the collection of the Harvard Law Library
