Article 80. Status of actions of the Commission
As a consequence of actions required of it by the Code, the Commission may publish Declarations, Opinions, the Official Lists and Official Indexes, and may adopt and publish Parts of the List of Available Names in Zoology. The status of these published acts, and of names and works in the Official Lists and Official Indexes, is specified in this Article.
A Declaration published by the Commission shall have the force of a provisional amendment to the Code and shall remain in force until the international body having authority [Art. 77] ratifies or rejects it. If the Declaration is ratified, the Code shall be deemed to have been amended from the date of the Declaration.
If a case involves the application of the Code to an individual work, name, or nomenclatural act, the Commission is to give a ruling in an Opinion, and either
80.2.1. state how the Code is to be applied or interpreted; or
80.2.2. acting in the interests of stability and universality, exempt by use of its plenary power [Art. 81] the particular case from the application of the Code, and state the course to be followed.
80.3. Effective date of Opinions
Rulings in Opinions have force immediately upon publication by the Commission in the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature.
80.4. Corrections of errors or omissions in Opinions
Official Corrections to errors and omissions (such as a bibliographic error, lapsus calami, or an omission in placing a conserved or suppressed name on an Official List or Index) may be published by the Commission without further vote unless the error or omission negates the ruling or its consequences. If the ruling is negated by the error or omission, the Commission shall reconsider the matter and publish a further Opinion.
80.5. Interpretation of Opinions
An Opinion applies only to the particular case before the Commission and is to be rigidly construed; no conclusions other than those expressly specified are to be drawn from it.
80.6. Status of works, names and nomenclatural acts in Official Lists
The Commission publishes the effects of its Opinions on individual names and works in the Official Lists and Official Indexes. In the case of names and works in the Official Lists:
80.6.1. A name entered in an Official List is an available name.
80.6.2. The status of a name entered in an Official List is subject to the ruling(s) in any relevant Opinion(s), including any Official Correction of an Opinion [Art. 80.4]; all other aspects of its status derive from the normal application of the Code. However, if such a name is given a different status in the List of Available Names in Zoology the latter status is deemed to be correct [Art. 80.8].
80.6.3. A name may be placed in an Official List without any additional qualification.
80.6.4. If a name entered in an Official List is thought to be a synonym of another available name (whether in an Official List or not), their relative precedence is determined by the normal application of the Code unless the Commission rules or has ruled otherwise.
80.6.5. A name or nomenclatural act occurring in a work entered in the Official List of Works Approved as Available for Zoological Nomenclature is subject to the provisions of the Code and to any limitation imposed by the Commission on the use of that work in zoological nomenclature.
80.7. Status of works, names and nomenclatural acts in Official Indexes
The Commission publishes the effects of its Opinions on individual names and works in the Official Lists and Official Indexes. In the case of names and works in the Official Indexes:
80.7.1. A work, name or nomenclatural act entered in an Official Index has the status attributed to it in the relevant ruling(s).
80.7.2. A name or nomenclatural act occurring in a work entered in the Official Index has no availability or validity in zoological nomenclature, unless the Commission by use of its plenary power rules otherwise. However, such a work may be used as a source of information relevant to zoological nomenclature unless the Commission has ruled that the work is to be treated as unpublished.
80.8. Contradictory status accorded by the Commission to names in the List of Available Names in Zoology and in the Official Lists
In the event of contradictory status being accorded by the Commission to a name included in the List of Available Names in Zoology, in an Official List, or in an Opinion, the status accorded in the List of Available Names in Zoology is deemed to be correct unless the Commission has ruled otherwise [Art. 79.5].
80.9. Previous decisions of the Commission
No ruling given by the Commission in relation to a particular work, name, or nomenclatural act is to be set aside without the consent of the Commission.