Proposed Statute No. 1

Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:16 am

Bill Formatting Act

An Act to establish a set of guidelines for writing Statutes.

PREDICTING the need of a standard format for Statutes,
NOTING that organization is key to this Congress’ efficiency,
HEREBY enacts the Bill Formatting Act.

Short Title

(1) This act may be referred to as the “Bill Formatting Act”.

Titling

(2) All Statutes must have their Short Title, otherwise known as Passed Statute Title, at the utmost top portion of the Statute.
(3) Directly below the Short Title shall reside the designated Proposed Statute Number.
(4) In consequence to that shall be the summary of the Act beginning with “An Act to…”.

Preamble

(5) The Preamble shall be optional and at the author’s discretion.
(6) The Preamble shall consist of phrases which display an initial verb, capitalized, followed by a statement.
(7) The Preamble, if included, must conclude with “HEREBY enacts the [insert Short Title].”

Short Title Designation

(8) The First Clause of all Statutes shall be dedicated to designating the Statute’s Short Title or Passed Statute Title.

Clause Formatting

(9) Clauses in Statutes shall be preceded by a designating number in parenthesis.
(10) Clauses shall not be limited in length or sentence structure; however, each individual clause must not vary in subject.
(11) Clauses may have sub-clauses that are lettered, as opposed to numbered.
(12) Clauses shall be divided by appropriate titles.

Enforcement

(13) No Statute may be enacted if any of the previous clauses were violated, except if the Statute is intended to modify this Act.