ABSTRACT
Finland is a statutory law system, but the law has not been codified in the proper sense of the term (cf. the 'Code Civil' of France or the BGB of Germany). An 'Act of Parliament' is adopted when parliament approves a Government Bill for the ad and the President of the Republic signs the law into force. The act enters into force (at the earliest} after it has been published in the Statutes of Finland. Most acts contain a provision specifying the date of entry into force. ·
According to the Constitution, the President of the Republic has the power to issue decrees on the implementation of ads. The Council of State has the power, in certain cases specified by law, to issue statutes ('decisions of the Council of State'} that are to be followed as legal norms. Furthermore either a statute or a decree may empower a lower authority, such as a county government or a
municipal council, to enact by-laws binding the administrative sector in question or by-laws binding a local area. Statutes enacted in this manner are official sources of law. An example is municipal by-laws.
