Difference between Section and Clause in Law

Asked 01-Dec-2017
Updated 18-May-2023
Viewed 2955 times

2 Answers


0

In the context of legal documents, such as statutes or contracts, sections and clauses serve different purposes and have distinct meanings.

  • Section: A section is a subdivision of a legal document, typically a statute or an act. It represents a major division of the document and is often numbered for easy reference. Sections are usually organized hierarchically, with higher-level sections containing lower-level sections, and they help structure and organize the content of the document. Sections often deal with broader topics or themes, and they may contain multiple clauses within them. For example, in a statute regulating environmental protection, you might find sections on air pollution, water pollution, and waste management.
     
  • Clause: A clause is a distinct provision or sentence within a legal document. Clauses are usually smaller units of text compared to sections and are often marked with specific labels or identifiers, such as numbers or letters, for reference. Clauses represent specific provisions, conditions, obligations, or rights within a document. They are typically more detailed and specific than sections. Clauses can cover a range of legal concepts and may define rights, obligations, exceptions, or conditions. For example, in a contract, you may find clauses regarding payment terms, termination provisions, or dispute resolution mechanisms.

To summarize, sections provide a higher-level organizational structure within a legal document, while clauses represent individual provisions or sentences within that structure. Sections help navigate and group related content, while clauses offer specific details and define the rights and obligations of the parties involved.


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Well, they both perform a common function of categorizing the documents in a smaller portion to make legal things short and simple to understand and implement. The sections are mostly found in contracts whereas the clauses are there in constitutional acts.

Difference between Section and Clause in Law

Well, having a proper understanding of legal guidelines is really a hard work which really requires a lot of attention. There are so many terms which come across while going through a legal document as they are written in a way which could be understood by who are people in a legal profession. 

Section and clause are the most common terms which we hear when there any news regarding any act.

Section
A section is used to simplify a contract so that it could get easy in reading and understanding. Section are generally found in the contract, different contracts are been categorized in a different section and these sections are been simplified into a subsection.

Clauses
It is also a categorization but it is mostly found in the constitutional documents under the act. Clauses perform the activity of dividing the constitution along with act describing the law in detail for better understanding.
Clauses usually give additional information about the law. Assuming the fictional act above, a clause could add that although littering is punishable, in certain cases such as emergency, loitering could be acceptable.

"the good of the people is the greatest law"

Comment
Thank you for the informative answer. - Anonymous User27-Feb-2019