Federal regulations
When Congress passes a law (i.e., a
statute), it usually delegates the responsibility for issuing regulations to a particular
government agency (i.e., bureaucrats). Regulations are rules which explain and interpret
the statutes passed by Congress. In other words, statutes are broad brushstrokes and the
regulations are the fine, detailed strokes. The U.S. government compiles all of the
regulations from the various federal government agencies into a set of books referred to
as the Code of Federal Regulations -- or "C.F.R." for short.
Let's look at a specific example to see how this
works. When Congress passed the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1993, it instructed the
U.S. Department of Labor to issue regulations covering the Act.
In writing the regulations, the Department of
Labor read the different statutes that make up the Act, and wrote regulations to explain
those statutes. So for example, one statute states that medical leave can only be taken
for a "serious health condition." The Department of Labor has written
regulations attempting to explain what is and what is not a serious health condition:
Ordinarily, unless complications arise, the
common cold, the flu, ear aches, upset stomach, minor ulcers, headaches other than
migraine, routine dental or orthodontia problems, periodontal disease, etc., are examples
of conditions that do not meet the definition of a serious health condition and do not
qualify for FMLA leave. 29 C.F.R. Section 825.114 (c).
This
information comes from Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations at Part 825, Section
114, Subpart (c). Congress painted the broad brushstroke and Department of Labor employees
filled in the details.
While courts are required
to follow laws passed by Congress (unless a law is unconstitutional), courts are not
generally required to follow regulations -- especially if the court believes that
the regulation in question is inconsistent with what Congress intended. However,
regulations are an important source of guidance to courts when attempting to apply a
statute to a particular situation.
Other sources of authority
Law review articles
In addition to statutes,
case law and regulations, there are other sources of legal authority that may not be
binding on any court, but may assist an attorney or a court in understanding a particular
legal issue.
Most law schools
have law journals in which they publish law review articles on a quarterly basis. These
articles almost always take an in-depth look at some unsettled area of the law. These
articles are usually written by legal scholars. Therefore, while these articles only
express opinions, they are sometimes relied upon by attorneys and judges where there are no
statutes, case law or regulations that definitively answer a particular
legal question
.
