7 CHARACTERISTICS OF A REGULATION - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

A regulation is a norm that may or may not be of a legal nature, which establishes a series of provisions that are mandatory for the entire scope it covers.

As its name indicates, a regulation indicates a series of rules whose purpose is to maintain the order of a certain social group, as well as to regulate specific matters. Many companies and institutions have internal regulations, in which the basic labor standards in the company are framed.

In many countries, the regulation is an auxiliary to other laws. In other words, when there are laws that require specific compliance, they are usually drawn up together with regulations, which regulate all the procedures that can be carried out within the framework of the legislation with which it is related.

Regulations are a very common set of rules that are frequently found in different areas of life.

For example, in order to have a bank account or a credit card, to enroll a child in an educational institution, to reserve rooms in a hotel or rent an apartment, it is necessary to sign a regulation, which, if not followed, can lead to suspension. of any of the aforementioned services.

It is easily demonstrable that regulations are one of the most achievable types of regulations, so it is important to know their composition.

Important features of the regulations

Most of the regulations share a series of common characteristics that make it possible to identify the most salient aspects of them.

However, as each regulation is based on a certain institution, their individual characteristics tend to vary greatly from each other.

Name and purpose

To find out what a regulation is about, the first thing to do is read its name. Generally, the name usually indicates the most important information related to the subject on which this regulation will regulate.

If it is an auxiliary regulation to a law, the most probable thing is that its name begins with "Regulation of the Law…".

On the other hand, if it is a regulation referring to an institution, the most logical thing is to know that it will contemplate what refers to work areas and internal things. Knowing in which area the institution works, it can be inferred which are the topics to be dealt with in it.

Preamble

Like any legal regulation, it is possible that before the articles of the regulations begin, there is a statement of reasons, a preamble and a series of recitals that explain the purpose for which these regulations are drawn up.

This is very enlightening if you want to know the origin and the area that it intends to cover.

If it is a regulation of another type, this composition is difficult for it to exist. But sometimes it is usually included data of the institution in which it is applied, or elements such as its vision and mission.

Subdivision into titles and chapters

Continuing with the legal organic structure, a good way to find out about the areas in which a regulation will have jurisdiction is by reading the index.

The regulation is divided, in the first instance, into titles. This depends on the size, as there are many that do not cover as much space as to include titles.

For that reason, most regulations begin directly in the chapters, which constitute the largest subdivision of the regulations.

The chapters give a brief description of the issues that the article will deal with more specifically later. The smaller regulations do not have any kind of subdivision, and start directly with the articles.

Classification in articles

Articles are the basic unit of regulations. Regardless of any higher classification, within the articles is where the specific legal regulations that establish the action of all the elements that make up the regulation are located.

Each of the articles has a purpose and tells what should be done in a given situation, how to act in any case, what right a person acquires, what is the procedure to follow when an event occurs, among many other cases that can be considered.

Articles are short structures that have, at most, three paragraphs or that are also presented through a list of functions.

Relationship with the laws

Laws, in most cases, establish what but not how. That is why they are complemented by legal legal regulations such as regulations.

While a law incorporates a new right, the regulation of that same law establishes what are the requirements to access it.

On the other hand, if a law establishes a sentence, the regulations will be in charge of determining the procedure to follow to apply it.

All this relationship is done in a complementary way, always bearing in mind that a regulation cannot at any time contravene the law by which it is subject, much less pretend to detract from its purpose.

The application of the legal mechanisms in the regulation is almost as important as the establishment of the mechanisms.

Sanctions

One of the main legal systems that explicitly establish how sanctions will be applied are regulations.

This is due to the fact that the law contemplates a more general drafting nature, while the regulations specifically regulate in their articles all the elements that are established in the law.

Mainly, the sanction mechanisms are well described in the regulations.

Also in those referring to minor or private institutions, where together with the specific regulations the respective sanction is established, who applies it and the procedure to be carried out for that.

Supplements with other regulations

Although the regulations are precisely complementary regulations to other higher-level legislation, they often fall short at the procedural level.

Or also, after years of execution, you want to complement or make a specific paragraph about the operation or procedure of something that was not clear or precise.

For this reason, the regulation can also be supplemented with circulars and other mechanisms.

This allows its application to be as clear as possible and that there is no room for free interpretation by citizens.

References

1. Animal Protection of New Mexico. (sf). How to Understand the Differences Between Statutes, Regulations, Ordinances and Common Law. Animal Protection of New Mexico. Recovered from apnm.org.
2. Constitutional right. (February 15, 2012). Regulation concept. Constitutional right. Recovered from Derechoconstitucional.es.
3. (sf). The Basics of the Regulatory Process. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from epa.gov.
4. Government of Western Australia. (2003). Differences: Acts and Regulations. Department of the Premier and Cabinet. Government of Western Australia. Recovered from slp.wa.gov.au.
5. Texas A&M University. (sf). Regulatory. Texas A&M University School of Law. Recovered from law.tamu.edu.
6. The Canadian Legal Reasearch and Writing Guide. (sf). The nature of regulations. The Canadian Legal Reasearch and Writing Guide. Recovered from legalresearch.org.
7. Victoria State Government. (sf) Law and regulation. Victoria State Government. Recovered from justice.vic.gov.au.