In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, a slip law is an individual

Act of Congress An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...

which is either a

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

(Pub.L.) or a

private law Private law is that part of a legal system that governs interactions between individual persons. It is distinguished from public law, which deals with relationships between both natural and artificial persons (i.e., organizations) and the st ...

(Pvt.L.). Slip laws are published as softcover unbound

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

s, each with its own individual pagination. They are part of a three-part model for

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Convention, articl ...

of federal statutes consisting of slip laws, session laws, and codification. Session laws are compiled into the '' Statutes at Large'' (Stat.), and codification results in the

United States Code The United States Code (formally The Code of Laws of the United States of America) is the official Codification (law), codification of the general and permanent Law of the United States#Federal law, federal statutes of the United States. It ...

(U.S.C.). Public and private laws are prepared and published by the

Office of the Federal Register The Office of the Federal Register is an office of the United States government within the National Archives and Records Administration. The Office publishes the ''Federal Register'', ''Code of Federal Regulations'', '' Public Papers of the Presi ...

(OFR) of the

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

(NARA). At the end of a Congressional session, slip laws are compiled into the ''Statutes at Large'', which are called "session laws", published by the Government Printing Office (GPO). Today, most of the public laws, but not private laws, are drafted as amendments to the United States Code.

References

{{reflist

External links

Public and Private Laws
(1995–present) at Govinfo (U.S. Government Publishing Office)
Public Laws
(1951–present) at Congress.gov
Private Laws
(1951–present) at Congress.gov American legal terminology Legal research Statutory law Terminology of the United States Congress

See also

References

Further reading

External links