Vacatio legis


Vacatio legis is a technical term in both Catholic canon law and civil law which refers to the period between the promulgation of a law and the time the law takes legal effect.

Canon law

In the canon law of the Latin Church, the vacatio legis is three months for universal laws, and one month for particular laws, unless the law itself establishes a longer or shorter period of time. Months are reckoned according to the calendar from the date of publication. The law can stipulate a longer or shorter time of vacatio than that which is stipulated generally.
Stanislaus Woywod says of vacatio legis:

Civil law

In civil law, vacatio legis "indicates a condition of non-validity of a norm, and because there is one that is already taken and yet to come into force, and because you know or at least perceive the need for regulation of a subject to which, during the period, there are no rules.