Uniform Act
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the United States, a Uniform Act is a proposed state law drafted by the U.S. Uniform Law Commission (ULC) and approved by its sponsor, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL).
Federalism in the United States under the Constitution grants only limited lawmaking power to federal government. All powers not explicitly granted to the federal government are reserved by the governments of the states under the Tenth Amendment. At the same time, it is desirable to have a predictable and relatively uniform set of laws in each state. Therefore, the states have passed laws dealing with a variety of legal issues that are identical or very similar; these are known as "Uniform Acts,"
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[edit] Drafting
The NCCUSL is a body of lawyers, both private practitioners and government attorneys; judges, both state and federal; and law professors, typically appointed by the governor of each state. The NCCUSL drafts laws on a variety of subjects and proposes them for enactment by each state, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. NCCUSL was established in 1892. The NCCUSL, while influential, does not have any direct legislative power itself; uniform acts become laws only to the extent they are enacted into law by state legislatures.
Among the most influential uniform acts are the Uniform Commercial Code, Uniform Probate Code, Uniform Trust Code, Uniform Partnership Act, Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, Uniform Certification of Questions of Law Act, Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, Uniform Controlled Substances Act, Uniform Arbitration Act, Uniform Environmental Covenants Act, Uniform Conservation Easements Act, Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act, Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, and Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. However, there are well over 100 uniform acts. NCCUSL periodically updates these acts. Recent examples include the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, Revised Uniform Arbitration Act, Revised Uniform Partnership Act, Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, and the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act. The NCCUSL website should be consulted for the latest uniform acts or revisions thereof.
[edit] Non-NCCUSL model laws
[edit] Model Penal Code
The Model Penal Code, which seeks to harmonize state criminal law statutes, is in effect a uniform act but it was developed by the American Law Institute and not the NCCUSL.
[edit] Other model laws
The Uniform Auction and Auctioneer Licensing Act[1] (2006) is a sample law, proposed by the National Auctioneers Association, intended to be used by states as a template when drafting their own legislation governing auctions and auctioneers.[2]
Other notable non-NCCUSL model laws include the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act, the Model Business Corporation Act, and the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.
