Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to work that way in reality. While the criminal laws are all public, there’s other rules and regulations that may not be.

At least where I’m from as an example, the building code is a paid product you have to purchase from the government. Yet if you build a home and don’t follow it, they will not allow you to live in it.

That one really bugs me. Anything the government produces in terms of rules or regulations should be available to the public for free.