lex lata

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lēx lāta (“the law borne”) (see below).

Noun

lex lata (uncountable)

1. (law) The law as it is.
   • 1997, Lyal S Sunga, The Emerging System of International Criminal Law [1]

     At that point, little purpose would be served in maintaining categories fashioned so closely to the lex lata that the Code would crystallize traditional technical distinctions.

   • 2000, Nikolaos K. Tsagourias, The Jurisprudence of International Law [2]

     This also betrays an interest in transforming world order by approximating lex lata with lex ferenda.

   • 2002, Netherlands Yearbook of International Law, 2001 [3]

     Lex ferenda serves as a label for something which has at least conceptual existence, as a contrast or opposite to lex lata, the law that exists and obliges the subjects of law to adopt, or to refrain from, certain defined courses of conduct in certain defined circumstances.

Latin

Etymology

Literally "the law borne", i.e. ratified. Compare lēgislātor (“one who makes laws”); literally, "bearer of the law".

Noun

lēx lāta f sg (genitive lēgis lātae); third declension

1. (law) The law as it is.

Declension

Third-declension noun with a first-declension adjective, singular only.

	singular
nominative	lēx lāta
genitive	lēgis lātae
dative	lēgī lātae
accusative	lēgem lātam
ablative	lēge lātā
vocative	lēx lāta

Antonyms

• lēx ferenda