The early Meiji government internally lacked appropriate means of establishing a uniform direction over state governance, and there were laws and ordinances repeatedly issued with overlapping subjects, using various names for the laws, such as 'act,' 'bylaw,' 'order' and 'code.'
また、明治初期の国家意思形成の不統一性の問題もあり、規制対象を同じくする法令が何度も公布されたり、法令の名称についても、「法」、「条例」、「規則」、「律」など様々であった。