Directory Statute - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition directory-statute

Definition :

Directory Statute. The term directory, when applied to a statute (or part of a statute) which enjoins or forbids the doing of certain acts, is used in two different senses:-

(I) As opposed to declaratory, i.e., a statute which merely declares what the Common Law is, 1 Bl. Com. 54 and 86.

(II) As opposed to imperative. When a statute directs that an act should be done in a specific manner, or authorizes it upon certain conditions, if a strict compliance with its provisions is not essential to the validity of the act, it is said to be directory, although the performance might be enforced by mandamus, but if such compliance is essential, it is said to be imperative. See per Lord Mansfield in R. v. Loxdale, (1758) 1 Burr. 445; Maxwell on Statutes