Policy, Laws and Other Terms Explained
If you’re anything like me, the differences between policies, laws, strategies, acts, bills, and all those legal terms can be downright confusing. Do they all mean the same thing? Not really. In this blog post, I’ll break down these terms in a simple and clear way, so you can finally make sense of it all. Let’s dive in!
Take note that while the definition attempt to be general, they are mainly derived from their use in Kenya (or many other former British colonies) and in the sector of environment.
Policy
These are set of guidelines that help govern decision within the government. They are usually developed after a process of research, analysis, stakeholder engagement and politics.
Some policies are backed by laws and regulations. In these instances, breaking such policies may result in fines or imprisonment.
Other national policies are not backed by law as they serve as recommendations of guidelines. Breaking such policies may not result in legal penalties. Regardless, breaking a national policy can damage reputation leading to loss of credibility from various stakeholders.
Act
Bill
Law
Regulation
Strategy
References
David Okul is an environmental management professional with over 10 years experience on donor projects, conservation, forestry, ecotourism, and community-based natural resources management. When not working on active environmental management projects, I spend my time writing for Silvica on a variety of topics.
