International Foundation for Electoral Systems and international obligations, executive orders and presidential decrees, common law/case law, codes of conduct, and policies. Each of these elements fits into – or interacts with – the hierarchy of laws in different ways, depending on the system of government in a particular country. In terms of the basic elements of the hierarchy, a constitution states the grounding legal and democratic principles that its government is obligated to uphold, and because of this is considered the supreme law in a country to which all other laws must adhere. A statute is a law enacted by a legislature to govern society, and its authority is derived from the constitution or founding document of a country, which authorizes the legislature to enact it. Regulations are issued under the authority of a statute by a division of the government or by a special body, such as an EMB. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as “delegated” legislation, and they provide administrative and technical detail to carry out the purpose of the statute. Finally, procedures describe the required steps necessary to complete a process, and are generally written by an administrative body to ensure that the law and regulations are applied consistently and fairly to all parties. Constitution Statutes / Legislation ← Treaties / International Obligations ← Executive Orders / Presidential Decrees ← Case Law / Common Law Regulations Procedures and Codes of Conduct Figure 1: The Hierarchy of Laws 2