The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 3 letter word STATUTE LAW
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
T
A
T
U
T
E
L
A
W
More clues leading to the result STATUTE LAW
Buddy explains!
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.