FROM LAW TO CODE

While economic growth is essential, the Constitution does not permit growth at the cost of dignity, security and collective rights of workers

- Bruhaspati Samal

In legal discourse, the terms law and code are often loosely used, yet they embody fundamentally different ideas with far-reaching consequences for governance and social justice.

This distinction becomes critically important when examining India’s recent transition from a protective, welfare-oriented labour law regime to a consolidated framework of four Labour Codes.

In its classical sense, law is a broad and evolving concept. Jurists have defined law in multiple ways, but a commonly accepted understanding is found in Salmond’s definition: law is “the body of principles recognised and applied by the State in the administration of justice.” Similarly, the Supreme Court in State of Madras v. VG Row (1952) observed that law is not merely a set of rules but a mechanism to balance individual liberty with social order under constitutional values. Law thus includes statutes, constitutional provisions, judicial precedents, customs, conventions and principles of natural justice.

A code, on the other hand, is a specific legislative technique. Black’s Law Dictionary defines a code as “a systematic collection, compendium, or revision of laws, rules, or regulations that relate to a particular subject.” The Supreme Court echoed this understanding in RS Nayak v. AR Antulay (1984), where it described a code as a “complete and exhaustive statement of law on a subject, intended to replace scattered enactments.” Therefore, while law is organic and multi-sourced, a code is rigidly statutory, structured and intended to standardise application.

Judicial practice illustrates this distinction clearly. In Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018), the Supreme Court struck down Section 497 of the IPC, holding that even a comprehensive code must yield to constitutional morality and fundamental rights. This reaffirmed that codes do not exist in isolation; they are subordinate to constitutional law and judicial interpretation.