Legislation is among the core functions of the state, and the existence of coherent and enforceable statutes is often perceived by citizens as a key indicator of governmental legitimacy. However, not all enacted laws retain their practical authority over time; certain statutes are gradually deemed "unenforced" or functionally obsolete by legal scholars and practitioners. Despite the widespread use of the term unenforced law, its precise meaning remains ambiguous. Does it refer to statutes that have never been enforced? Or those that are enforced only sporadically? Or perhaps to laws that, while occasionally invoked, have lost their operative significance in practice? Given the profound implications of this concept—ranging from its impact on legislative refinement to its role in assessing the relationship between partial enforcement and justice—this study undertakes a conceptual inquiry into the notion of unenforced criminal statutes, distinguishing it from adjacent terms such as dead law, symbolic legislation, and suspended law. This research adopts an exploratory methodology and draws upon Ludwig Wittgenstein’s theory of language games and the notion of family resemblance, seeking to clarify the concept through the lens of customary legal understanding. The empirical dimension of the study consists of a sample of 23 participants—including faculty members, PhD candidates, judges, and practicing attorneys—who were randomly selected and surveyed to provide their insights into the meaning and real-world manifestations of unenforced statutes.



Based on the data collected and interpreted through four conceptual indicators—(1) sustained lack of effective enforcement, (2) gradual erosion of practical function, (3) diminished social and legal acceptance, and (4) deficiency in sanction mechanisms—the study concludes that an unenforced statute refers to a law that, due to the absence or weakness of these elements, has effectively exited the normative cycle of reference and application, retaining only a symbolic presence within the legal architecture.