Private Laws v. Public Laws (US)

Private Laws

  • Private laws affect a particular segment of the population, such as an individual, family, or small group.

  • This contrasts with public laws which are laws affect the country as a whole.

  • Private laws constitute only a small minority of the laws passed by Congress.

  • We cite private laws with the abbreviation Priv. L. No., which indicates that the law is a private law, followed by the number of the Congress which passed the law and the number of the law.

  • For example, Priv. L. No. 112-1 is the citation for the is the 1st private law passed by the 112th Congress.

  • You can view a chronological list of private laws passed by Congress here.

Public Laws

  • Public laws are laws which affect the country as a whole.

  • This contrasts with private laws, which affect a particular segment of the population, such as an individual, family, or small group.

  • The vast majority of laws passed by Congress are public laws.

  • We cite public laws with the abbreviation Pub. L. No., which indicates that the law is a public law, followed by the number of the Congress which passed the law and the number of the law.

  • For example, Pub. L. No. 112-1 is the citation for the 1st public law passed by the 112th Congress.

  • You can view a chronological list of public laws passed by Congress here.

 

Written By: Aiden Singh Published: July 22, 2020