§ 25.17. Assignment of section numbers.
Section numbers should be assigned in conformity with § 23.25 (relating to sections) and § 23.27 (relating to reservation of numbers). The process of section numbering does not represent simply the sequential assignment of appropriate section numbers to the sections of the rearranged and modified initial draft, but rather is a major editorial effort seeking the best compromise among the following inconsistent considerations:
(1) In order to simplify the revised draft and allow for subsequent expansion by amendment, each subsection of the initial draft should be numbered as a separate independent section in the final draft.
(2) A title of the Statutes must avoid section numbers larger than four digits, that is, no chapter may be numbered beyond 99 and no section beyond 9999. Since even numbered chapters are omitted to allow for future expansion and since from 25 to 50 section numbers are required to number the typical chapter, approximately 2,500 section numbers are actually available for use in a specific title. Thus, assignment of section numbers on the basis set forth in paragraph (1) may exhaust the available section numbers.
(3) The numbering of each subsection of the initial draft as a separate section in the final draft may require repeated and awkward cross references to closely related provisions which formerly constituted units of the same section. This condition indicates the desirability of retaining the prior relationship.
(4) In some instances (for example, the Business Corporation Law, the Nonprofit Corporation Law and the like), the statute to be incorporated into and repealed by the bill is well known and heavily utilized by affected persons and a thoroughgoing renumbering would work a serious inconvenience to these users. This condition indicates the desirability of retaining the integrity of the sections of the prior law to the maximum extent possible.
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