General law
Black's Law Dictionary · Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
Black's Law Dictionary
A general law as contradistinguished from one that is special or local, is a law that embraces a class of subjects or places, and does not omit any subject or place naturally belonging to such class.
Van Riper v. Parsons, 40 N. J. Law, 1; Mathis v. Jones, 84 Ga. 804, 11 S. El 10iS; Brooks v. Hyde, 37 Cal. 376; Arms v. Ayer, 192 111. 6Ol, 61 N. E. 851, 58 L. It. A. 277, 85 Am. St. Ren. 357; State v. Davie, 55 Ohio St. 15, 44 N. E. 511.
A law, framed in general terms, restricted to no locality, and operating equally upon ali of a group of objects, which, having regard to the purposes of the legislation, are distinguished by characteristics sufficiently marked and important to make them a class by themselves, is not a special or local law, but a general law.
Van Riper v. Parsons, 40 N. J. Law, 123, 29 Am. Rep. 210.
A special law is one relating to particular persons or things ; one made for individual cases or for particular places or districts ; one operating upon a selected class, rather than upon the public generally.
Ewing v. Hoblitzelle, 85 Mo. 78; State v. Irwin, 5 Nev. 120; Sargent v. Union School Dist., 63 N. H. 528. 2 Atl. 641; Earle v. Board of Education, 55 Cal. 489; Dundee Mortgage, etc.. Co. v. School Dist. (C. C.) 21 Fed. 158.