Session laws are the collection of
statutes enacted by a
legislature
A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...
during a single session of that legislature, often published following the end of the session as a bound volume. The
United States Statutes at Large
The ''United States Statutes at Large'', commonly referred to as the ''Statutes at Large'' and abbreviated Stat., are an official record of Acts of Congress and concurrent resolutions passed by the United States Congress. Each act and resolut ...
are an example of session laws which are published biennially, because the United States Congress meets for two years per session. Session laws are typically published annually or biennially, depending on the length of the session of the legislature, which in turn typically depends on the frequency with which general elections of the legislature are held.
Laws that are enacted during a session may modify existing statutes of the jurisdiction, or may need to be added to the collection of statutes. If the agency responsible for printing updated statutes has not yet published a new collection of statutes containing the amendments or additions passed during a recent legislative session, people who need to refer to the changes may refer directly to the session laws. Furthermore, some laws may be passed during a legislative session that are not intended to apply to the general population, e.g. a successful
appropriation bill
An appropriation, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government funds. It is a bill that sets money aside for specific spending. In some democracies, approval of the legislature is ne ...
or a
private act. Such laws might never be added to the statutes of the jurisdiction, and might only be contained in the session laws.
[''See, e.g.'', Mark C. Patronsky, ''Laws Not Printed in the Statutes'' (Wisconsin Legislative Council Staff Information Memorandum, August 28, 1973), p. 2 (discussing Wisconsin session laws not published in the state statutes).]
See also
*
Slip law
References
Legal research
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