De jure
Etymology
A Latin phrase meaning "by law" or "from the law" (de, "from," + jure, the ablative of ius, "law, right"). It pairs with de facto as its formal opposite, distinguishing what is legally established and recognized from what merely happens to be the case on the ground.
adverb · /dee-JOOR-ee/
Existing by legal right or according to the law, whether or not it holds true in practice.
What it names
The official version of things — who the law says is in charge or what a policy formally guarantees, even when reality has drifted elsewhere.
Example
Segregation was outlawed de jure years before it faded de facto from daily life.
Related idea
De jure is the legal, official state of affairs; de facto is the real one, which the law does not always match.