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Resolution (law)
 
 
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A resolution is a written motion
Motion (parliamentary procedure)

A motion, in parliamentary procedure, is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action. The numerous types of motions include those that bring new business before the assembly as well as numerous other motions to take procedural steps or carry out other purposes relating either to a pending mo...
 adopted by a deliberative body. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. For long or important motions, though, it is often better to have them written out so that discussion is easier or so that it can be distributed outside of the body after its adoption. An alternate term for a resolution is a resolve.

Resolutions are commonly used in corporations and houses of legislature.

orporations, a written resolution is especially useful in the case of the board of directors
Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed persons who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. The body sometimes has a different name, such as board of trustees, board of governors, board of managers, or executive board....
 of a corporation
Corporation

A corporation is a legal entity separate from the persons that form it. It is a legal entity owned by individual stockholders. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it can be either a corporation sole or a corporation aggregate ....
, which usually needs to give its consent to real estate
Real estate

Real estate is a law term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is fixed in location. purchases or sales by the corporation.






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A resolution is a written motion
Motion (parliamentary procedure)

A motion, in parliamentary procedure, is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action. The numerous types of motions include those that bring new business before the assembly as well as numerous other motions to take procedural steps or carry out other purposes relating either to a pending mo...
 adopted by a deliberative body. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. For long or important motions, though, it is often better to have them written out so that discussion is easier or so that it can be distributed outside of the body after its adoption. An alternate term for a resolution is a resolve.

Resolutions are commonly used in corporations and houses of legislature.

In corporations

In corporations, a written resolution is especially useful in the case of the board of directors
Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed persons who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. The body sometimes has a different name, such as board of trustees, board of governors, board of managers, or executive board....
 of a corporation
Corporation

A corporation is a legal entity separate from the persons that form it. It is a legal entity owned by individual stockholders. In British tradition it is the term designating a body corporate, where it can be either a corporation sole or a corporation aggregate ....
, which usually needs to give its consent to real estate
Real estate

Real estate is a law term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is fixed in location. purchases or sales by the corporation. Such a resolution, when certified by the corporation's secretary
Secretary

A secretary is either an administrative assistant in administration , or a certain type of mid- or high-level governmental position, such as a Secretary of State....
, gives assurance to the other side of the transaction that the sale was properly authorized.

Houses of legislature

When greater formality is desired, a motion
Motion (parliamentary procedure)

A motion, in parliamentary procedure, is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action. The numerous types of motions include those that bring new business before the assembly as well as numerous other motions to take procedural steps or carry out other purposes relating either to a pending mo...
 may be made in the form of a resolution, which is always submitted in writing.

Houses of a legislature
Legislature

Legislature is a type of representative deliberative assembly with the power to create and change laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law....
 often adopt non-binding resolution
Non-binding resolution

A non-binding resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body that cannot progress into a law. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion....
s.

However, a legislature also uses resolutions to exercise one of its binding powers that isn't a lawmaking power. For example, the United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 declares war
Declaration of war by the United States

A declaration of war is a formal declaration issued by a national government indicating that a state of war exists between that nation and another....
 or proposes constitutional amendment
Constitutional amendment

An amendment is a change to the Constitution of a nation or a state. In jurisdictions with "rigid" or "entrenched" constitutions, amendments require a special procedure different from that used for enacting ordinary laws....
s by adopting a joint resolution
Joint resolution

In the Congress of the United States, a joint resolution is a legislative measure that requires approval by the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives and is presented to the President for his approval or disapproval, in exactly the same case as a bill....
. A house of a legislature can also use a resolution to exercise its specific powers, as the British House of Commons
British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the British monarchy and the House of Lords ....
 does to elect its Speaker
Speaker of the British House of Commons

In the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, and is seen historically as the First Commoner of the Land....
 or as the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as "the House", is one of the bicameralism of the United States Congress; the other is the United States Senate....
 does to impeach
Impeachment

Impeachment is the first of two stages in a specific process for a legislative body to consider whether or not to forcibly remove a government official from office....
 an officer of the government
Government

Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies....
.

Types


Non-binding

In a house of a legislature
Legislature

Legislature is a type of representative deliberative assembly with the power to create and change laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law....
, the term non-binding resolution
Non-binding resolution

A non-binding resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body that cannot progress into a law. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion....
 refers to measures that do not become law
LAW

LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
s. This is used to differentiate those measures from a bill
Bill (proposed law)

A bill is a proposed new law introduced within a legislature that has not been ratification, adopted, or received royal assent. Once a bill has become law, it is thereafter an Statute; but in popular usage the two terms are often treated interchangeably....
, which is also a resolution in the technical sense. The resolution is often used to express the body's approval or disapproval of something which they cannot otherwise vote on, due to the matter being handled by another jurisdiction
Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
, or being protected by a constitution
Constitution

A constitution is a system for government — often codified as a written document — that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity....
. An example would be a resolution of support for a nation's troops in battle
Battle

Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, wherein each group will seek to defeat the others within the scope of a military campaign, and are well defined in duration, area and force commitment....
, which carries no legal weight, but is adopted for moral
Moral

A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim....
 support
Support

Support may refer to the following:* Sympathy, emotional support;* Support wiki * Technical support - in computer hardware, software or electronic goods;...
.

Substantive and procedural

Substantive resolutions apply to essential legal principles and rules of right, analogous to substantive law
Substantive law

Substantive law is the statutory or written law that governs rights and obligations of those who are subject to it. Substantive law defines the legal relationship of people with other people or between them and the state....
, in contrast to procedural resolutions, which deal with the methods and means by which substantive items are made and administered.

Historical examples of resolutions

  • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
    Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

    The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was addressed by President Lyndon B. Johnson as a joint resolution of the United States Congress passed on August 10, 1964 in direct response to a reported minor naval engagement known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident....
  • Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
    Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

    The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were important political statements in favor of states' rights written secretly by Vice President Thomas Jefferson ,who would later become president, and James Madison in 1798, respectively....
  • Nickle Resolution in Canadian Parliament
  • UN General Assembly Resolutions
  • UN Security Council Resolutions
  • War Powers Resolution
    War Powers Resolution

    The War Powers Resolution of 1973 is a United States federal law providing that the President of the United States can send Military of the United States into action abroad only by authorization of United States Congress or if the United States is already under attack or serious threat....
     (U.S.)


See also

  • Main motion
    Main motion

    A main motion, in parliamentary procedure, is a Motion that brings business before the assembly. Main motions are made while no other motion is pending....
  • Preamble
    Preamble

    A preamble is an introductory and explanatory statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute....