1. The written acts or records of a government (or its constituent units) that are not constitutionally or statutorily protected from disclosure. • Laws and judicial records, for example, are public writings. A private writing that becomes part of a public record may be a public writing in some circumstances.
2. Rare. A document prepared by a notary public in the presence of the parties who sign it before witnesses. — Also termed (in both senses) public instrument; (in sense 2) escritura publica.
