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Alegislator, orlawmaker, is a person whowrites andpasseslaws, especially someone who is amember of alegislature. Legislators are oftenelected by thepeople, but they can be appointed, orhereditary. Legislatures may be supra-national (for example, theEuropean Parliament), national, such as theJapanese Diet, sub-national as in provinces, orlocal.
Thepolitical theory of theseparation of powers requires legislators to be independent individuals from the members of theexecutive and thejudiciary. Certain political systems adhere to this principle, others do not. In theUnited Kingdom and other countries using theWestminster system, for example, the executive is formed almost exclusively from legislators (members of the parliament), and the executive Cabinet itself has delegated legislative power.
In continental Europeanjurisprudence and legal discussion, "the legislator" (le législateur) is theabstract entity that has produced the laws. When there is room forinterpretation, the intent of the legislator will be questioned, and the court is directed to rule in the direction it judges to best fit the legislative intent, which can be difficult in the case of conflicting laws or constitutional provisions.
The local term for a legislator is usually a derivation of the local term for the relevant legislature. Typical examples include
This is an incomplete list of terms for a national legislator:
Some legislatures provide each legislator with an official "substitute legislator" (or "alternate") who deputises for the legislator in the legislature if the elected representative is unavailable.Venezuela, for example, provides for substitute legislators (diputado suplente) to be elected under Article 186 of its1999 constitution.[6]Ecuador,Panama, and the U.S. state ofIdaho also have substitute legislators.[7]
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