Session laws are the collection of

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

s enacted by a

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

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 resolu ...

is 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 is not intended to apply to the general population, e.g. a successful appropriation bill or a

private act Proposed Bill (proposed law), bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. A private bill is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...

. 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).

References

Legal research {{law-stub

See also

References