If the title in the code is a positive law title, the law itself is one federal statute that has been enacted by Congress. A positive law title reorganizes the law in a more efficient way; any unclear provisions or errors are clarified or removed, meaning the final law title provides the most modern and clear interpretation of the law. This makes positive law titles legal evidence of the law and are considered more reliable by U.S. courts. 14 titles of the U.S. Code are positive law titles. 

Positive Law Titles

A law title in the U.S. Code is composed of multiple enacted statutes that have been implemented separate from each other, but all organized under one title. A non-positive law title is prima facie evidence of the law because arguments can easily be made that wording and organization in one of the underlying statutes is different than the way one is presenting the interpretation in court. 

Non-Positive Law Ttiles

Both titles are used as evidence of the law, but the organization differs as positive law titles are more clear. The difference between legal and prima facie evidence is a matter of authoritativeness, meaning positive law titles are more likely to be reliable in legal matters. 

The Differentiation Between Positive and Non-Positive Law Titles

All general and permanent laws of the United States is organized under one of the 54 titles that best correlates with the general subject matter. Each of the 54 titles has multiple subsections, sections, subtitles, chapters, subchapters, and then divided into even smaller units, and each title will be enacted as either a positive law title or non-positive law title in the U.S Code.

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First the statute will be enacted as a ‘slip law’ which is published on its own document that contains information that includes information about the date enacted as well as additional notes that may be useful. It will also be assigned a Public Law Number that will identify the law. Then the slip law will become Session Law, where all slip laws are organized chronologically into one document that will be published at the end of the current U.S. Congressional session (1 per year) to become a Statute at Large. This becomes published in the code under appropriate subject matter and title. 

How a Statute Becomes a Part of U.S. Code

The United States Code (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/USCODE

The United States Code

Once a slip law is published, then it will receive an official public or private law number. Each one contains the law number as well as the Congress number of session that enacted it. It will have Pub. L (or P.L.) at the beginning of each one, then the number that follows will be the Congress number (for example, 110) and end with the law number. An example: Pub. L. 110-325 is the number of the American with Disabilities Act Amendment Act in 2008. 

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