In the canon law of the Catholic Church, a declaration of nullity, (commonly called an annulment and less commonly a decree of nullity)[1] is authoritative judgment on the part of an ecclesiastical tribunal juridically establishing the fact that a marriage was invalidly contracted or, less frequently, a judgment juridically establishing the fact that an ordination was invalidly conferred.
In common law, a declaration ordinarily refers to a judgment of the court or an award of an arbitration tribunal that is a binding adjudication of the rights or other legal relations of the parties which does not provide for or order enforcement.
This has led to a rise in defendants taking pre-emptive action by seeking "declarations of non-liability" in a race to the courthouse to ensure that they choose the court first seized rather than waiting for the claimant to do so.
By contrast, most statutes are positive law, purporting to order a future state of affairs.
In linguistic terms, declaratory legislation is indicative whereas positive law is performative.