In law and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fact'), which describes situations that exist in reality, even if not formally recognized.

Definition

''De jure'' is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

expression composed of the words ''de'',("from, of") and ''jure'',("law", adjectival form of '' jus''). Thus, it is descriptive of a structural argument or position derived "from law".

Usage

Jurisprudence and ''de jure'' law

In U.S. law, particularly after '' Brown v. Board of Education'' (1954), the difference between ''de facto'' segregation (that existed because of voluntary associations and neighborhoods) and ''de jure'' segregation (that existed because of local laws) became important distinctions for court-mandated remedial purposes.

Government and culture

Between 1805 and 1914, the ruling dynasty of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

was subject to the rulers of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

but acted as ''de facto'' independent rulers who maintained the polite fiction of Ottoman suzerainty. However, starting from around 1882, the rulers had only ''de jure'' rule over Egypt, as it had by then become a British

puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...

. Thus, by Ottoman law, Egypt was ''de jure'' a province of the Ottoman Empire, but ''de facto'' was part of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

Borders

The ''de jure'' borders of a country are defined by the area its government claims, but not necessarily controls. Modern examples include

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

(claimed but not controlled by

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) and Kashmir (claimed by multiple countries).

References