WHAT IS A REGULATION? (WITH EXAMPLES) - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The regulations are a set of guidelines or rules that seek to regulate the actions and behavior of a group of people within a given space, which usually has some kind of institutional or official.

The legal scope of a regulation will strictly depend on the type of institution, organization or activity in which the group of people belongs or is involved, but its objective is not to function as a legal legislative document.

It is important to note that the direction and approaches established in a regulation are based on the interests and criteria of the group, despite always having a higher body in charge of shaping and strengthening them.

Regulations are quite common in civil associations, political parties, companies, businesses, clubs, among others, where they are known as internal regulations, whose objective is to guarantee that the entity can function properly.

At the sporting level, a regulation works in a similar way. It is a legal document that compiles all the accepted norms and rules inherent for the participation and healthy enjoyment of the game, within the events officially affiliated with the international federations or associations.

At the legal-juridical level, the term “regulations” is also used, but these have a more strict, regulated and controlled nature.

Despite not being legislation in itself, it draws its authority and is enabled by legal statutes. This is known as “subsidiary legislation”.

What defines the regulations?

1- Simple, clear and accessible

All regulations that are designed with a view to quality, must be easy to understand, explicit and be available to everyone involved in the activity or group. This applies to every aspect of regulation, including administrative formalities.

Anyone who is interested should be able to have quick and convenient access to the written document where all the rules, mechanisms, procedures and other pertinent approaches are reflected.

2- Founded with bases

A good regulation is carefully prepared. It is based on all the empirical, legal, scientific, intellectual and ideological information rationally available on the area or specialty.

In addition, it is discussed under a wide variety of official, social, legal and political scenarios in order to clearly determine its objectives, options, content and effects.

The objectives of the group or organization, the mission and vision are taken into account when designing and evaluating a regulation.

3- Cash

For the achievement of the determined objectives, all regulations are necessary and must be effective at the time of their execution.

When a particular social problem arises within the spaces of the group or event, the administration of that group opts for the intervention of the entity or body in charge of evaluating and applying the regulations.

Given the case, they must be able to prove that the regulation is necessarily applicable and effective to solve the situation.

4- Balanced

A good regulation is balanced, fair and assertive. It promotes the safety and social welfare of all those involved and achieves the objectives set with the lowest possible social cost and minimizes unwanted collateral effects.

Its fulfillment does not represent a sacrifice for the members of the organization, institution or group, but on the contrary it promotes order and creates its correct fulfillment.

5- Reinforceable

Every good regulation is necessarily accompanied by a guarantee of equally good real practical application, otherwise the regulation and the space in which it regulates are destined to fail.

This implies the existence of internal bodies or agencies responsible for enforcing the rules in a fair, egalitarian manner and without exceptions; as well as applying the necessary sanctions in case of non-compliance or violation.

In the case of an educational institution, a call for attention by the deputy director may fulfill the role of an internal body in charge of enforcing the rules, while in another type of entity another type of participant or department may be necessary to carry out this purpose..

For greater effectiveness, these departments are usually independent from the administration of the entity (although they are not external to it), and nothing related to the designers of the regulation; as for example in companies.

6- Legality

A regulation must be articulated to exist and fit within the existing legal framework of society and the general principles and values ​​of the group. It must satisfy the minimum formal and legal requirements of the locality.

7- Consistent and coherent

The logical harmonization between existing and parallel rules is necessary for the uniformity of a regulation. On its own or together with another set of rules, a good regulation does not show contradictions or overlap another.

The regulations are part of a coherent whole, without great ambiguities or room for free interpretation by either party.

8- Relevant and updated

A regulation is created and takes effect at a certain time, but is generally intended to be implemented over long periods of time.

Its validity over time may change partially or totally. Consequently, a regulation is regularly reviewed to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of the community.

Over the years, it is customary to add more regulations, modify existing ones, adjust them or even eliminate them, depending on changes in social and cultural trends, the general legal framework or the entity's policies.

However, there may be occasional, exceptional and unlikely cases where the regulation does not contain an approximate rule to deal with the situation, and other mechanisms are used.

9- Distribution of the document design

Every good written regulation shows the name of the document clearly in its title. This is followed by an explanation of its purpose within the framework of the organization's objectives.

These paragraphs usually clarify the motives, reasons, considerations and probably origins of the rules within the document. At the same time, the authors and those involved in the development of the regulations are named.

The structure is usually quite standard and common with divisions and subdivisions such as titles, chapters, articles, numerals, among others.

This will depend on the complexity or simplicity of the entity so that the final result enjoys a distribution that allows the easy and quick location of the rules.

Examples of regulations

1- Footwear factory safety regulations

Regulation of the cutting section

- The cutting machine can only be operated by one person. The safety handles must remain uncovered, and both the operator's hands must be placed on each handle of the machine while cutting is in progress.

- The pedal that cuts the power of the machine can only be tapped in an emergency. Otherwise, it should not be activated under any circumstances.

- All cutting molds must be manufactured only once, avoiding repetitions and waste of materials.

- The use of IPP (Personal Protection Equipment) is mandatory at all times inside the factory.

2- Regulation of a condominium

In accordance with the provisions of local regulations, all residents of the "Pradera verde" condominium must adhere to what is indicated in the following regulations, in order to guarantee adequate social coexistence and the care of the condominium:

- Payment of monthly maintenance:

The residents of the condominium must pay monthly, via bank consignment, the item corresponding to the cost of the monthly maintenance of the common areas, the elevators, the green areas, the facade, and other elements of the physical plant of the condominium.

In case this item is not paid in a timely manner, the board of directors of the condominium will evaluate the type of sanction that will be applied to the resident of the condominium.

- Board selection:

The board of directors will be in charge of managing the resources of the condominium. The members that make it up must be elected by popular vote.

Each of the departments of the condominium will be obliged to give their vote to carry out said election.

The board of directors will have the power to execute the following clauses:

a) Punish those tenants who are more than three months behind with the payment of the monthly maintenance of the condominium. Said sanction will correspond to the suspension of the water supply for the home.

b) Call an extraordinary meeting with all the members of the condominium, in case a matter of a special nature arises.

c) Contract the necessary labor to carry out improvements to the physical plant of the condominium.

3- School regulation

The following regulation presents the rights and duties of the students of the Los Sauces educational institution, as well as of all those who are authorized to be inside the campus.

Article I: Students of the institution will be considered those young people who are enrolled in it, have the payment of their obligations up to date and have not incurred in serious offenses that have withdrawn their faculty of students.

Article II: All students must comply with all the articles stipulated in this regulation, without exception.

Article III: The institution is not obliged to fulfill the duties mentioned here with those people who are not considered students of the same.

Article IV: All students are obliged to wear the official uniform of the institution while they are inside it. Students who are not wearing the uniform will not be allowed to enter the campus.

Difference of law and regulation

Although they may seem two very similar terms, both by definition and by staging, there are differences in several of their aspects. The first is that the law sets rules, but it also gives you rights. The regulation no.

The law seeks to direct the conduct of citizens with the aim of a common welfare, being legally unbreakable. The regulation is a norm established by an authority that must also enforce it to achieve a well-being or objective, but it does not have any type of legality. In fact, regulations must comply with laws, so it has a lower rank.

On the other hand, laws are established by political and legal bodies, while regulations can be established by any natural person or institution.

It could be understood that the regulation has a bit more freedom than the law, since non-compliance with the latter has a legal penalty. Failure to comply with a regulation could motivate the sanction, punishment or expulsion of the individual in the area that is served, but would never have legal problems.

Let's take the example of a person who lives for rent and that in the rules of the contract his landlord specifies that animals cannot be immediately expelled from the house. If the landlord surprises him with a pet in the home, the tenant could be forced to leave, but if he also had an exotic animal prohibited in the country, the State forces could arrest him and bring him to trial for breaking the law under economic sanction or jail.

Another example would be that of a mother who has as a rule at home that no one can walk around the house barefoot. If her three-year-old does not comply, the mother could punish him by sending him to the room, forbidding him his favorite food, or spanking him on the ass. In this case, the child violates a regulation (not written) of the home.

If instead of the mother surprising her barefoot young son at home, the police do so when they verify that he had been abandoned for hours, it would be his mother who would break a law that could sentence her to jail.

References

1. Cheryl L. Evans (2014). Top 10 Characteristics of Effective Self-Regulatory Organizations. Market Integrity Insights. CFA Institute. Recovered from blogs.cfainstitute.org
2. Fred Vreeman (2016). What are some characteristics of rules and regulations? Quora. Recovered from quora.com
3. OECD - Legal Affairs (2015). Internal Rules and Regulations. Recovered from oecd.org
4. Governance-Flanders.be. Characteristics of a good regulation. Public Governance Flanders - Regulatory Management. Recovered from governance-flanders.be
5. The Canadian Legal Research and Writing guide. The Nature of Regulations. Recovered from legalresearch.org
6. Definition ABC. Regulations and Internal Regulations. Recovered from definicionabc.com
7. Duhaime's Law Dictionary. Regulation. Duhaime.org. Recovered from duhaime.org.