Legal Definitions - legislative fact

Definition: A legislative fact is a fact that explains the reasoning behind a particular law and helps a court or agency determine the law's content and application. These facts are not specific to the parties in a proceeding.

Example: Let's say there is a law that prohibits smoking in public places. A legislative fact in this case could be that secondhand smoke is harmful to people's health and that the law is intended to protect the public from this harm. This fact helps the court or agency understand the purpose of the law and how it should be applied.

This example illustrates how a legislative fact is used to provide context and reasoning behind a law, which can help in interpreting and applying it.