Meaning & use
codify in law
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiomlegal
To arrange existing rules, customs, or court decisions into a single written legal code.
Grammar: Used as a verb phrase; often passive, e.g. 'The right was codified in law in 1998.'
Patterns
- codify something in law
- be codified in law
- codify a right in law
Parliament decided to codify in law the protections that had previously existed only as customs.
The court's ruling was later codified in law by a new statute.
Many countries have codified in law the principle that all citizens are equal before the courts.
Common combinations
- codify a right in law
- The campaigners wanted to codify the right to clean water in law.
- be codified in law
- These rules have been codified in law for over a century.
- codify in law the principle of
- The treaty codified in law the principle of free movement.
- codify something in statute
- The government moved to codify the practice in statute rather than leave it to judges.
Synonyms and how they differ
- enact
- Enact means to make a proposal into a law; codify in law means to organize existing rules into a written code, which may or may not create new law.
- enshrine
- Enshrine means to protect a right in a formal document, often a constitution; codify in law is broader and focuses on systematic written organization.
- legislate
- Legislate means to make laws generally; codify in law highlights turning scattered rules into one code.
Word family
- codification noun
- The process or result of arranging rules into a code.
- code noun
- A systematic collection of laws or rules.
Commonly confused: codify in law or modify in law?
codify in law vs modify in law
Modify means to change something; codify means to organize it into a written code. They sound similar but have very different meanings.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'codify in law' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 fits because codifying in law means turning existing rules or customs into a formal written legal code. The other options use the phrase in non-legal or nonsensical contexts.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “codify in law”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.