Legal Definitions - enacted clause

An enacted clause is a part of a legal document or instrument, such as a statute, that states the legislative authority by which it is made and often the date when it will take effect. It is also known as an enacting clause.

A typical enacted clause begins with the words “Be it enacted that....” For example, the enacted clause of a federal statute is, “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.”

Some state constitutions specify the enacted clause for legislation, without which the legislation is void. In codifications of statutes, enacted clauses generally appear not in the text of the statutes but in historical or legislative notes.

For example, the following is an enacted clause from the United States Constitution: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

This example illustrates how the enacted clause of the US Constitution establishes the authority by which the Constitution was created and the purpose for which it was established.