Educational rewrite. Same meanings as the original Living In The Private page; unique wording. Not legal advice.
The Law is Common Law—the foundation of justice for living people. Laws serve all people equally. Laws defend unalienable rights, provide reparation to the injured, and allow peace among neighbours. The Law is the definition of the people’s power, and it is common sense. The Law protects living people from harm, loss, and fraud.
Statutes are the enactments of the legislature that apply to publicly registered legal entities as franchises of the public State. Statutes offer limited “privileges and benefits” to artificial persons of various kinds, prescribing contract rules and regulations by consent. Statutes can wear the appearance—or “colour”—of law. Statutes govern legal entities as a franchise benefit to the public State.
Statutes are not Laws. The Law is from the People. Statutes are from the State.
The difference between what is lawful and what is legal is a matter of life and death in this educational framing. What is lawful is for living people. What is legal is for dead corporate entities.
- legal = fiction
- statute = statue (word play used in the original teaching)
- legislation = “leg of a statue”
- act = act of a statue
In the New Zealand framing of the original material: private sovereign men and women are de jure “in law.” Public servants in corporate roles, and all artificial legal entities, are de facto “in practice.” Government is described with three branches—while the people’s Common Law power of justice is judicial and exercised lawfully (trial by jury), and the State’s delegated duty of management is executive and exercised legally (legislation).
Statute types are Acts, Bills, and Legislative Instruments. They apply to artificial legal (legislated) “persons,” so their texts never refer to a living “man” or “woman.” Statute titles never end with the word “Law.” Public officials habitually call Acts “laws.” An Act is not a Law: the Land Transport Act is not titled the Land Transport Law.
In New Zealand, only a few statutes acknowledge the right of living men and women to due process of law, including the Imperial Laws Application Act 1988 (common law shall be part of the laws of New Zealand), the Observance of Due Process of Law Statute 1368 (due process according to the old law of the land), and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (for the benefit of all natural persons).
There is a natural compulsion to obey the Law because it safeguards living rights and freedoms. If we do not honour the Law, it cannot afford us protection. Obeying statutes, however, is voluntary. Membership in the “legal society” is a matter of choice. Consent is given unilaterally—not merely collectively via a government election. In a truly free nation, men and women in Common Law jurisdiction would give free consent to obtain commercial privileges of statutes when they choose—not by silent default.
Law (Common Law)
Jurisdiction: Law of the Land. Parties: living men and women. Trigger: harm to a living victim. Venue: court of record with jury. Aim: justice and remedy. From the people.
Statutes
Jurisdiction: commercial / administrative. Parties: legal persons and agencies. Trigger: code violations and accounts. Venue: administrative dockets. Aim: compliance and collection. From the State.
| Statutes / Acts | The Law |
|---|---|
| Legislature makes statutesBy enactments of legislation | People make the LawBy acceptance of jury decisions |
| State’s “legal contracts”Acts, bills, legislative instruments | People’s Common LawRecorded as case law |
| Effective by consentOffer made effective by informed consent | Effective by conscienceMoral customs of the people |
| Govern legal entitiesFranchise benefit to the State | Protects the peopleFrom harm, loss, and deceit |
| Not all equal in the texts | All equal in the eyes of the Law |
| Based on practicalities | Based on principles |
| Legal = legislation | Lawful = the Law |
| De facto — “in practice”Law of the Sea | De jure — “in law”Law of the Land |
| Profit and dispute | People and peace |
| Statutes are artificial | The Law is living |
Legislation for franchises versus living law for people
When officials apply statutes to you as if you were only a person NAME, they collapse the distinction. Restore it: declare living capacity, demand an injured party, and challenge jurisdiction. Full long-form study: Law and Legislation. Also: Jurisdiction Is the Key, The Courts, Your Consent.