United States Statutes at Large

The United States Statutes at Large, commonly referred to as the Statutes at Large and abbreviated Stat., are the official source for the laws and concurrent resolutions passed by the United States Congress. They are also commonly called session laws since they are compiled from slip laws (public laws and private laws, abbreviated Pub.L. and Pvt.L.) at the end of a Congressional session.[1] They are part of a three-part model for publication of federal statutes consisting of slip laws, session laws, and codification.

Contents

Codification

Today, large portions of slip laws denominated as public laws are drafted as amendments to the United States Code. Once enacted into law, an Act will be published in the Statutes at Large and will add to, modify, or delete some part of the United States Code. Provisions of the public laws that contain only enacting clauses, effective dates, and similar matters are not generally codified. Private laws also are not generally codified.

Some portions of the United States Code have been enacted as positive law and other portions have not been so enacted. In case of a conflict between the text of the Statutes at Large and the text of a provision of the United States Code that has not been enacted as positive law, the text of the Statutes at Large takes precedence.[2]

History

Publication began in 1845 by the private firm of Little, Brown and Company under authority granted by a joint resolution of Congress. In 1874, Congress transferred the authority to publish the Statutes at Large to the Government Printing Office under the direction of the Secretary of State.

During Little, Brown and Company's time as publisher, Richard Peters (Volumes 1-8), George Minot (Volumes 9-11), and George P. Sanger (Volumes 11-17) served as editors.

Pub.L. 80-278, 61 Stat. 633, was enacted July 30, 1947 and directed the Secretary of State to compile, edit, index, and publish the Statutes at Large. Pub.L. 81-821, 64 Stat. 980, was enacted September 23, 1950 and directed the Administrator of General Services to compile, edit, index, and publish the Statutes at Large. Since 1985 the Statutes at Large have been prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).[3]

Until 1948, all treaties and international agreements approved by the United States Senate were also published in the set, but these now appear in a publication titled United States Treaties and Other International Agreements, abbreviated U.S.T. In addition, the Statutes at Large includes the text of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, amendments to the Constitution, treaties with Indians and foreign nations, and presidential proclamations.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Public and Private Laws: About, United States Government Printing Office, http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/about.html, retrieved 2009-11-20, "At the end of each session of Congress, the slip laws are compiled into bound volumes called the Statutes at Large, and they are known as 'session laws.'" 
  2. ^ See generally 1 U.S.C. § 112.
  3. ^ Statutes at Large: About

External links