Is there a word for &#39;governed/demanded by laws&#39;?
<p>I'm looking for a word meaning 'governed/demanded by law' – I've thought about <em>legislative</em> as well as <em>lawful</em>, but whereas both are to do with laws, neither seems to mean '<strong>governed/demanded by</strong> laws'. For instance, <em>legislative intervention</em> seems to mean 'intervention by making laws', and <em>lawful intervention</em> seems to mean 'intervention allowed by law', rather than 'intervention governed/demanded by law'. Am I right about this, and, if so, what word can I use instead of <em>legislative</em> and <em>lawful</em>?</p>
<p>Examples (X=the word I'm looking for):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If he is prevented from seeing his child due to X intervention by the social services, he may...</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>They were unable to go through with the project due to X injunction by the local authorities</p>
</blockquote>

<p><strong>Legislative</strong> comes from Latin and means <strong>making laws</strong>, it is the arm of the government that proposes, discusses, and then decides what should be law. It is joined by the <em>Executive</em> (the arm that executes, again, from Latin) and the <em>Judicative</em> (the arm that judges, again, from Latin). It does <em>not</em> mean 'following the law' in any way. <em>Legislative intervention</em> means &quot;intervention of the lawmaking body (my making new laws)&quot;.</p>
<hr />
<p><strong>Lawful</strong> is, according to <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lawful" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Meriam Webster</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>lawful<br>
1<br>
. a: being in harmony with the law<br>
. b: constituted, authorized, or established by law : RIGHTFUL<br>
2: LAW-ABIDING</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This indeed is actually synonym to &quot;following the law&quot; or &quot;as prescribed by the law&quot;. <em>Lawful intervention</em> means &quot;an intervention that follows the law&quot; and <strong>is</strong> what you look for.</p>
<p>Good synonyms for &quot;lawful&quot; in the use of <em>intervention following the law</em> would be <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legal" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>legal</em></a> (esp. 3: conforming to or permitted by law or established rules) and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/licit" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>licit</em></a> (conforming to the requirements of the law)</p>
<p>However, there is no <em>single</em> word that makes a <em>required by law</em> intervention. In a legal text (here: legal in use <em>1: of or relating to law</em>) such a demand would be phrased as <em>mandatory intervention</em> or <em>legal obligation</em>. <em>Mandatory</em> means that there was no discretion of the intervening body and would fit for actions of an executive body (e.g. social services), while the second example of <em>injunction</em> does not need an extra word: <em>injunction</em> itself is a legal term meaning <em>a court order to do/not do something</em>.</p>

<p>It is easier to provide examples than to analyze this question in the abstract, because correct usage is quite context specific. Here are words that would fit the examples provided:</p>
<p>&quot;If he is prevented from seeing his child due to <strong>a legally authorized/court authorized/legally required</strong> intervention by the social services, he may...&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;They were unable to go through with the project due to <strong>a court ordered/legally authorized/legally valid</strong> injunction by the local authorities&quot;</p>

legal-terms