Нужно ли писать слово Указ с заглавной буквы?

Question

Traditionally, the capital letter is very rarely used in Russian.

Even the language itself, русский, traditionally starts with a lower case letter itself, in Russian.

As such, what is the reason that a lot of official documents appear to capitalise the word?

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http://www.fms.gov.ru/programs/fmsuds/legal/details/39591/7/

(в ред. Указа Президента РФ от 31.12.2003 N 1545)

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(абзац введен Указом Президента РФ от 03.11.2006 N 1226)

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(May I point out that, perhaps, the number sign itself is not entirely correct, too -- shouldn't it be № as well?)

Answer 1

1. In Russian the first word of the title of the legislative act is always capitalized (e.g. "Указ Президента", "Трудовой кодекс"). Exceptions are subordinate legislations ("постановление Правительства") and projects ("проект указа").

2. Using Latin "N" instead of "№" was allowed since typewriting. I believe it's not just site's fault and it's still legal to use "N" in law docs. (BTW. Russian banks insist on exclusive usage of "N" in domestic payment orders).