Derogation

Derogation is a legal term of art. The term is also used in Catholic canon law, and in this context differs from dispensation in that it applies to the law, whereas dispensation applies to specific people affected by the law. Black's Law Dictionary defines derogation as "the partial repeal or abolishing of a law, as by a subsequent act which limits its scope or impairs its utility and force". It is sometimes used, loosely, to mean abrogation, as in the legal maxim lex posterior derogat priori ("a subsequent law derogates the previous one"). According to West's Encyclopedia of American Law derogation "implies the taking away of only some part of a law", or it is a "partial repeal of a law, usually by a subsequent act that in some way diminishes its original intent or scope", so distinguished from annulment, defined as the destruction of the law by "an act of the legislative power, by constitutional authority, or by usage". Black's also distinguishes from what it calls "abrogation, which means the entire repeal and annulment of a law". In the law of treaties, derogation means the setting aside of some provision or requirement of the treaty. The party to the treaty is said to have "derogated from" that provision. In human rights law the term may carry the additional meaning of a national legislature suspending an obligation for a legitimate objective, usually a national security exception or some other extraordinary circumstance relating to the maintenance of public order. In the conflict between English common law and ecclesiastical courts, both existed as legal systems of equal validity in one geographic space. By the mid 14th century the Parliament had attempted to limit ecclesiastical jurisdiction with the Statute of Praemunire. Based on the legislation, litigants in ecclesiastical courts argued that canon law, under the authority of Rome, was a derogation of the rights of the English crown, and argued for damages and criminal penalties under that statute.