Which set of terms is used to classify federal statutes according to the source material?

• A. Public law, private law, permanent law, and temporary law
• B. Civil law and criminal law
• C. Common law and statutory law
• D. International law and domestic law

Answer: (A)

Federal statutes are grouped by two dimensions: who they apply to and how long they stay in effect. Public law statutes apply to the general public, while private law statutes affect specific individuals or entities. On duration, permanent law remains in force until repealed, whereas temporary law has a defined end or sunset.

This combination—public vs private and permanent vs temporary—is the standard way sources classify federal statutes. The other options don’t fit because civil vs criminal describes types of offenses, common vs statutory law concerns sources of law rather than classification of statutes, and international vs domestic law concerns scope rather than a statutory category.