Public and private bills

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Proposed 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 person, group, or area, such as a bill granting a named person citizenship or, previously, granting named persons a legislative divorce.

Private law can afford relief from another law, grant a unique benefit or powers not available under the general law, or relieve someone from legal responsibility for some allegedly wrongful act. There are many examples of such private law in democratic countries, although its use has changed over time. A private bill is not to be confused with a private member's bill, which is a bill introduced by a "private member" of the legislature rather than by the ministry.

In modern practice, private bills are mixed and have both private and public aspects. In such cases the proposed legislation is called a hybrid bill.^[1] Some public laws set out such narrow terms of applicability that they apply to only one person or organization, making them de facto private laws. This may be used (successfully or unsuccessfully) to get around prohibitions on certain kinds of public laws.