public law

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The aspect of law concerned with the state acting in its sovereign capacity, as in its interactions with other governments or its prosecution of individuals for crimes.
• noun A law affecting the public.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun law A category of law governing the relationship between the state on one hand and persons (citizens or legal persons including corporations) on the other. Constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law are some of the major subdivisions of public law.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a law affecting the public at large