This is a list of legislation named for a person, usually either the member of Parliament/Congress responsible who proposed it or the victim of events which prompted introduction of the legislation (such as a person whose death might have been prevented had the law existed earlier). These names are generally "popular names" for the legislation, in addition to its formal name. Some of these Acts acquired their names because short titles were not used, and some now have different short titles. Popular names are generally informal (such as Megan's Law) but may reflect the official short title of the legislation. The terms named laws, nominative laws, Followup to Jarvis et al paper apostrophe laws, eponymous legislation Press release about Reed et al paper and namesake laws have been used to describe these pieces of legislation. Concern has been raised that the growth of such named laws in the UK in the 21st century may lead to "an unbalanced hierarchy of offences". A 2016 paper suggested that U.S. laws are disproportionately more often named after white victims than black.
Roman law
Lex Canuleia Lex Ogulnia Lex Papia Poppaea Lex Trebonia Lex Voconia
Argentina Yolanda's Law
Brazil
Afonso Arinos Law Aldir Blanc Law Carolina Dieckmann Law Eusébio de Queirós Law Falcão Law Feijó Law Kandir Law Maria da Penha Law Mariana Ferrer Law Pelé Law Rouanet Law Ruth Brilhante Law Saraiva Law
Canada Jordan's Principle Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law)
India Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005
Pakistan Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Act, 2019
Russia Dima Yakovlev Law
United Kingdom and predecessor states
Alan Turing law (Part 9 Chapter 1 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017) Awaab's Law Benedict's Law Bovill's Act (the Partnership Amendment Act 1865) Clare's Law The Coventry Act Crewe's Act Dáithí's Law Deasy's Act Denman's Act Fox's Act Handel's Naturalisation Act 1727 Harper's Law Jervis's Act Lord Birkenhead's Acts (F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead)Lord Birkenhead: Being an Account of the Life of F.E. Smith, First Earl of Birkenhead. 1926. p 137. Lord Brougham's Act Lord Cairns' Act Lord Campbell's Act: The Libel Act 1843 (6 & 7 Vict. c.96) The Fatal Accidents Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c.93) The Obscene Publications Act 1857 Lord Cranworth's Act (23 & 24 Vict c 145) (1860)Richard Holmes Coote. A Treatise on the Law of Mortgage. 5th Edition. 1884. vol 1. p 284. (Robert Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth)96 The Law Times 415 (3 March 1894). Lord Ellenborough's Act Lord Hardwicke's Act Lord Kingsdown's Act (the Wills Act 1861)60 The Justice of the Peace 596 (19 September 1896) (Thomas Pemberton Leigh, 1st Baron Kingsdown)A B Schofield, "A Memoir of Thomas Pemberton" (1994) 144 The New Law Journal 1294 (23 September 1994) Lord Tenterden's Act Lucy's Law Malins' Act (the Married Women's Reversionary Interests Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict c 57))Elphinstone's Introduction to Conveyancing. 5th Edition. 1900. p 203. (Sir Richard Malins)Joshua Williams. The Settlement of Real Estates. 1879. p 159. Martyn's Law (Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025) Palmer's Act Peel's Acts Poynings' Law (disambiguation) Preston's Act (55 Geo 3 c 192) (1815)Mr Serjeant Stephen's New Commentaries on the Laws of England. vol 1. p 588. Sarah's Law (officially the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme) Sophia Naturalization Act 1705 Strode's Act The Thellusson Act Zach's Law (section 183 of Online Safety Act 2023)
United States
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018 Andre's Law Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of 1996 The Bland–Allison Act The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act Brett's Law Caylee's Law The Comstock Law The Copyright Term Extension Act, sometimes called the Sonny Bono Act The Coogan Act Emily's Law Emmett Till Antilynching Act The Hatch Act of 1939 Jarod's Law Jennifer's Law (disambiguation) Jessica's Law Jonathan's Law Kendra's Law Lavinia Masters Act Leandra's Law The Magnitsky Act The Mann Act The Matthew Shepard Act Marsy’s Law Megan's Law Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act The Music Modernization Act, sometimes called the Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act The Nelson Act Pamela's Law Reagan Tokes Act The Ryan White CARE Act Sami’s Law The Sherman Antitrust Act The Volstead Act The Zacky Bill The Wetterling Act The Pure Food and Drug Act, sometimes called the Wiley Act or Dr. Wiley's Law
See also List of short titles List of legislation named for a place
References