In the practice of law, a code is an organized compilation of existing laws. It is a collection of all the laws in force, including the enacted laws and case law, covering a complete legal system or a specific area. A code can make the formulation of legal principles and rules more concise, clear, and thorough, so that people can understand the rules more quickly and comprehensively.
Many states publish official codes of all existing laws, which are compiled by code commissions and enacted by the legislature. The United States Code (USC) is a compilation of federal law, and the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is a collection of commercial law.
In civil law countries, a civil code usually covers the complete rules of a particular area, such as civil or criminal law. The law itself is formulated and published in the form of a code.
[Last updated in July of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]