Fiat vs. Law — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Fiza Rafique — Updated on May 18, 2024
Fiat is an authoritative decree or order, often issued by a government or leader, while law is a formal set of rules enacted by a legislative body and enforced by the judicial system.
Difference Between Fiat and Law
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Fiat refers to an authoritative decree or command issued by a leader or governing body without the need for legislative approval. It is often immediate and specific, addressing a particular issue or situation directly. Law, on the other hand, is a formal system of rules created by a legislative body and requires adherence by all within its jurisdiction. Laws undergo a formal legislative process, including debate, amendments, and approval, ensuring broader consensus and legitimacy.
A fiat is typically issued in response to urgent situations, allowing quick decision-making and implementation. It can bypass the slower legislative process, providing a way to address immediate needs. Conversely, law represents a more deliberate and comprehensive approach to governance, designed to apply broadly and uniformly over time. Laws are intended to provide long-term stability and predictability.
The authority of a fiat derives from the power of the individual or body issuing it, such as a monarch, president, or CEO. Its enforceability often depends on the authority and acceptance of the issuer. Laws derive their authority from the legal system, and their enforcement is carried out by judicial and law enforcement agencies, ensuring consistency and impartiality.
Fiats can be limited in scope and duration, addressing specific issues or emergencies. They may also be subject to fewer checks and balances, leading to potential abuse of power. Laws are subject to a formal legislative process, including checks and balances such as judicial review and public scrutiny, which help prevent misuse and ensure fairness.
Comparison Chart
Definition
Authoritative decree or order
Formal set of rules enacted by legislature
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Process
Issued directly by authority
Requires legislative process
Scope
Specific and immediate
Broad and long-term
Authority
From issuer's power
From legal system
Checks and Balances
Limited
Extensive
Compare with Definitions
Fiat
Command by a leader.
The president's fiat implemented emergency measures.
Law
Formal regulations.
Environmental laws protect natural resources.
Fiat
Arbitrary order.
The manager's fiat required all employees to work overtime.
Law
Law is a system of rules created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and the art of justice.
Fiat
Temporary ruling.
The governor's fiat closed schools during the crisis.
Law
A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority.
Fiat
Directives without legislative approval.
The CEO's fiat reorganized the company structure.
Law
The body of rules and principles governing the affairs of a community and enforced by a political authority; a legal system
International law.
Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (UK: , US: , Italian: [ˈfiːat]; originally FIAT, Italian: Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, lit. 'Italian Automobiles Factory, Turin') is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary of Stellantis. Fiat Automobiles was formed in January 2007 when Fiat S.p.A. reorganized its automobile business, and traces its history back to 1899 when the first Fiat automobile, the Fiat 4 HP, was produced.
Law
The condition of social order and justice created by adherence to such a system
A breakdown of law and civilized behavior.
Fiat
An arbitrary order or decree.
Law
A set of rules or principles dealing with a specific area of a legal system
Tax law.
Criminal law.
Fiat
Authorization or sanction
Government fiat.
Law
A statute, ordinance, or other rule enacted by a legislature.
Fiat
An arbitrary or authoritative command or order to do something; an effectual decree.
A royal fiat.
A presidential fiat.
Law
A judicially established legal requirement; a precedent.
Fiat
Authorization, permission or (official) sanction.
A government fiat.
To rule by fiat.
Law
The system of judicial administration giving effect to the laws of a community
All citizens are equal before the law.
Fiat
(English law) A warrant of a judge for certain processes.
Law
Legal action or proceedings; litigation
Submit a dispute to law.
Fiat
(English law) An authority for certain proceedings given by the Lord Chancellor's signature.
Law
An impromptu or extralegal system of justice substituted for established judicial procedure
Frontier law.
Fiat
(attributive) (Pertaining to) fiat currency.
Law
An agency or agent responsible for enforcing the law. Often used with the
"The law ... stormed out of the woods as the vessel was being relieved of her cargo" (Sid Moody).
Fiat
To make (something) happen.
Law
(Informal) A police officer. Often used with the.
Fiat
An authoritative command or order to do something; an effectual decree.
His fiat laid the corner stone.
Law
The science and study of law; jurisprudence.
Fiat
A warrant of a judge for certain processes.
Law
Knowledge of law.
Fiat
A legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge);
A friend in New Mexico said that the order caused no trouble out there
Law
The profession of an attorney.
Fiat
An authoritative decree.
The king issued a fiat to raise taxes immediately.
Law
Something, such as an order or a dictum, having absolute or unquestioned authority
The commander's word was law.
Law
A body of principles or precepts held to express the divine will, especially as revealed in the Bible.
Law
The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Law
A code of principles based on morality, conscience, or nature.
Law
A rule or custom generally established in a particular domain
The unwritten laws of good sportsmanship.
Law
A way of life
The law of the jungle.
Law
A statement describing a relationship observed to be invariable between or among phenomena for all cases in which the specified conditions are met
The law of gravity.
Law
A generalization based on consistent experience or results
The law of supply and demand.
Law
(Mathematics) A general principle or rule that is assumed or that has been proven to hold between expressions.
Law
A principle of organization, procedure, or technique
The laws of grammar.
The laws of visual perspective.
Law
(usually with "the") The body of binding rules and regulations, customs, and standards established in a community by its legislative and judicial authorities.
The courts interpret the law but should not make it.
In theory, entrapment is against the law.
Law
The body of such rules that pertain to a particular topic.
Property law
Commercial hunting and fishing law
Law
Common law, as contrasted with equity.
Law
A binding regulation or custom established in a community in this way.
There is a law against importing wallabies.
A new law forbids driving on that road.
The court ruled that the executive order was not law and nullified it.
Law
(more generally) A rule, such as:
Law
Any rule that must or should be obeyed, concerning behaviours and their consequences. mores.}}
"Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you" is a good law to follow.
The law of self-preservation
Law
A rule or principle regarding the construction of language or art.
The laws of playwriting and poetry
Law
A statement (in physics, etc) of an (observed, established) order or sequence or relationship of phenomena which is invariable under certain conditions. theory.}}
The laws of thermodynamics
Newton's third law of motion states that to every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.
This is one of several laws derived from his general theory expounded in the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
Law
A statement (of relation) that is true under specified conditions; a mathematical or logical rule.
Mathematical laws can be proved purely through mathematics, without scientific experimentation.
Law
Any statement of the relation of acts and conditions to their consequences.
The law of scarcity
The law of supply and demand
Law
(linguistics) A sound law; a regular change in the pronunciation of a language.
Grimm's law
Dahl's law
Law
(cricket) One of the official rules of cricket as codified by the its (former) governing body, the MCC.
Law
The control and order brought about by the observance of such rules.
They worked to maintain law and order.
It was a territory without law, marked by violence.
Law
(informal) A person or group that act(s) with authority to uphold such rules and order (for example, one or more police officers).
Here comes the law — run!
Then the law arrived on the scene
Law
The profession that deals with such rules (as lawyers, judges, police officers, etc).
He is studying for a career in law.
She has practiced law in New York for twenty years.
Law
Jurisprudence, the field of knowledge which encompasses these rules.
She went to university to study law.
Law
Litigation; legal action (as a means of maintaining or restoring order, redressing wrongs, etc).
They were quick to go to law.
Law
An allowance of distance or time (a head start) given to a weaker (human or animal) competitor in a race, to make the race more fair.
Law
(aviation) A mode of operation of the flight controls of a fly-by-wire aircraft.
Normal law; alternate law; direct law
Law
(fantasy) One of two metaphysical forces ruling the world in some fantasy settings, also called order, and opposed to chaos.
Law
An oath sworn before a court, especially disclaiming a debt. wager of law", "wage one's law", "perform one's law", "lose one's law".}}
Law
(obsolete) A tumulus of stones.
Law
A hill.
Law
A score; share of expense; legal charge.
Law
(obsolete) To work as a lawyer; to practice law.
Law
To prosecute or sue (someone), to litigate.
Law
(nonstandard) To rule over (with a certain effect) by law; to govern.
Law
(informal) To enforce the law.
Law
To subject to legal restrictions.
Law
(dated) An exclamation of mild surprise; lawks.
Law
In general, a rule of being or of conduct, established by an authority able to enforce its will; a controlling regulation; the mode or order according to which an agent or a power acts.
These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made.
The law of thy God, and the law of the King.
As if they would confine the Interminable . . . Who made our laws to bind us, not himself.
His mind his kingdom, and his will his law.
Law
In morals: The will of God as the rule for the disposition and conduct of all responsible beings toward him and toward each other; a rule of living, conformable to righteousness; the rule of action as obligatory on the conscience or moral nature.
Law
The Jewish or Mosaic code, and that part of Scripture where it is written, in distinction from the gospel; hence, also, the Old Testament.
What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law . . . But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
Law
An organic rule, as a constitution or charter, establishing and defining the conditions of the existence of a state or other organized community.
Law
In philosophy and physics: A rule of being, operation, or change, so certain and constant that it is conceived of as imposed by the will of God or by some controlling authority; as, the law of gravitation; the laws of motion; the law heredity; the laws of thought; the laws of cause and effect; law of self-preservation.
Law
In mathematics: The rule according to which anything, as the change of value of a variable, or the value of the terms of a series, proceeds; mode or order of sequence.
Law
In arts, works, games, etc.: The rules of construction, or of procedure, conforming to the conditions of success; a principle, maxim; or usage; as, the laws of poetry, of architecture, of courtesy, or of whist.
Law
Collectively, the whole body of rules relating to one subject, or emanating from one source; - including usually the writings pertaining to them, and judicial proceedings under them; as, divine law; English law; Roman law; the law of real property; insurance law.
Law
Legal science; jurisprudence; the principles of equity; applied justice.
Reason is the life of the law; nay, the common law itself is nothing else but reason.
Law is beneficence acting by rule.
And sovereign Law, that state's collected willO'er thrones and globes elate,Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.
Law
Trial by the laws of the land; judicial remedy; litigation; as, to go law.
When every case in law is right.
He found law dear and left it cheap.
Law
An oath, as in the presence of a court.
Law
An exclamation of mild surprise.
Law
Legal document setting forth rules governing a particular kind of activity;
There is a law against kidnapping
Law
The collection of rules imposed by authority;
Civilization presupposes respect for the law
The great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order
Law
A generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature;
The laws of thermodynamics
Law
A rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society
Law
The learned profession that is mastered by graduate study in a law school and that is responsible for the judicial system;
He studied law at Yale
Law
The force of policemen and officers;
The law came looking for him
Law
The branch of philosophy concerned with the law and the principles that lead courts to make the decisions they do
Law
A system of rules.
The new law prohibits texting while driving.
Law
Legislation enacted by a governing body.
Congress passed a law to reform healthcare.
Law
Legal standards enforced by courts.
The law requires businesses to pay minimum wage.
Law
Binding norms.
International law governs relations between countries.
Common Curiosities
What is a law?
A formal set of rules enacted by a legislative body and enforced by the judicial system.
What is the scope of a fiat?
Typically specific and immediate.
Who enforces a law?
Judicial and law enforcement agencies.
How is a fiat issued?
Directly by an authority figure without legislative approval.
Can a fiat be challenged?
It may be more difficult to challenge than a law.
Who enforces a fiat?
It depends on the authority of the issuer and immediate enforcers.
Can a law be challenged?
Yes, through judicial review and legal processes.
How is a law created?
Through a formal legislative process involving debate and approval.
What is the scope of a law?
Broad and long-term, applying to a wide range of situations.
What is a fiat?
An authoritative decree or order issued by a leader or governing body.
What are checks and balances on a fiat?
Typically limited, dependent on the issuer's power.
What are checks and balances on a law?
Extensive, including legislative review and judicial oversight.
Are fiats permanent?
They are often temporary and situation-specific.
Are laws permanent?
Laws are intended to be enduring but can be amended or repealed.
Can fiats be issued in emergencies?
Yes, they are often used for quick decision-making in urgent situations.
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Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
