In the legislative process, a public bill is a bill which proposes a law of general application throughout the jurisdiction in which it is proposed, and which if enacted will hence become a public law or public act.
The term "public bill" differentiates such a bill from a private bill, which is a legislative bill affecting only a single person, group, or area, such as a bill granting a named person citizenship or, previously, granting named persons a legislative divorce.
In practice, a (technically) public act can have the effect of a private act by the addition of restrictions such as limiting the act's effect to areas falling within a certain population bracket.
Read more about Public Bill: Public Bills in The United Kingdom, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words public and/or bill:
“Like those before it, this decade takes on the marketable subtleties of a private phenomenon: parenthood. Mothers are being teased out of the home and into the agora for a public trial. Are we doing it right? Do we have the right touch? The right toys? The right lights? Is our child going to grow up tall, thin and bright? Something private, and precious, has become public, vulgarized—and scored by impersonal judges.”
—Sonia Taitz (20th century)
“What I am anxious to do is to get the best bill possible with the least amount of friction.... I wish to avoid [splitting our party]. I shall do all in my power to retain the corporation tax as it is now and also force a reduction of the [tariff] schedules. It is only when all other efforts fail that I’ll resort to headlines and force the people into this fight.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)