Citation of United Kingdom legislation
Encyclopedia
This article explains the citation of United Kingdom legislation, including the systems used for legislation passed by devolved parliaments and assemblies
Devolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...

, for secondary legislation, and for prerogative instrument
Prerogative instrument
A prerogative instrument is a legal instrument issued in the United Kingdom under the royal prerogative, in contrast with a Statutory Instrument ....

s. This subject is relatively complex both due to the different sources of legislation in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and because of the different histories of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom
Countries of the United Kingdom
Countries of the United Kingdom is a term used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. These four countries together form the sovereign state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is also described as a country. The alternative terms, constituent...

.

Citation of primary legislation as a whole

Each piece of legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 ("Westminster") is known as an Act of Parliament.

Each modern Act of Parliament has a title (also known as a "long title
Long title
The long title is the formal title appearing at the head of a statute or other legislative instrument...

") and a short title
Short title
The short title is the formal name by which a piece of primary legislation may by law be cited in the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions , as well as the United States. It contrasts with the long title which, while usually being more fully descriptive of the...

. A short title provides a convenient name for referring to an individual Act, such as "Jamaica Independence Act 1962". The long title is more comprehensive in scope, providing a sometimes very detailed description of the Act's provisions that is too unwieldy for convenient citation; for example, the long title of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 is around 400 words long.

Acts are today split between three series: Public General Acts, Local Acts, and Personal Acts. Each Act within each series is numbered sequentially with a chapter number. Since 1 January 1963, chapter numbers in each series have been numbered by calendar year. The first Public General Act passed in a year is "c. 1", the second is "c. 2", and so on; the first Local Act of a year is "c. i", the second is "c. ii", and so on; while the first Personal Act of a year is "c. 1", the second is "c. 2", and so on (note the use of italics).

Chapter numbers for Acts passed before 1963 are not by calendar year, but instead by the year(s) of the reign during which the relevant parliamentary session
Parliamentary session
A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections...

 was held; thus the Jamaica Independence Act 1962 is cited as "10 & 11 Eliz. 2 c. 40", meaning the 40th Act passed during the session that started in the 10th year of the reign of Elizabeth II and which finished in the 11th year of that reign. Note that the regnal numeral is in an Arabic
Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals or Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals or Indo-Arabic numerals are the ten digits . They are descended from the Hindu-Arabic numeral system developed by Indian mathematicians, in which a sequence of digits such as "975" is read as a numeral...

 rather than a Roman numeral
Roman numerals
The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...

.

Short titles were only introduced in the middle of the nineteenth century, and it was only by the late 1890s that every individual Act of Parliament had one. Some earlier Acts that originally lacked a short title were given one by later legislation, most notably by the Short Titles Act 1896; also, since the independence of the Irish state
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 in 1922, an Act may have a different short title in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland because of the different legislation passed in the two states. Older Acts may also have a "conventional" short title, such as "Crewe's Act".

Historic legislation

The Parliament of the United Kingdom came into being on 1 January 1801; before that date, legislation was passed either by the Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...

 or the Parliament of Ireland
Parliament of Ireland
The Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. In its early mediaeval period during the Lordship of Ireland it consisted of either two or three chambers: the House of Commons, elected by a very restricted suffrage, the House of Lords in which the lords...

. Similarly, the Parliament of Great Britain came into being on 1 May 1707 (OS
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...

); before that date, legislation was passed either by the Parliament of England
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...

 or the Old Parliament of Scotland
Parliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...

. Acts passed by each of these parliaments, except for the Parliament of Scotland, are cited in the same way as pre-1963 Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom; i.e., by parliamentary session and chapter number. Acts passed by the Parliament of Scotland are cited by calendar year and chapter number. Note also that Acts of the last session of the Parliament of Great Britain and the first session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are both cited as "41 Geo. 3". Also, the numbering of Acts passed by the first Parliament of Great Britain is in direct continuation from the last Act passed by the former Parliament of England.

Some individual Acts from these parliaments have more than one citation, depending on the edition in which the Act is printed. Modern practice for the parliaments of England and Great Britain is to follow the citations used in The Statutes of the Realm
The Statutes of the Realm
The Statutes of the Realm is an authoritative collection of Acts of the Parliament of England from the earliest times to the Union of the Parliaments in 1707, and Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain passed up to the death of Queen Anne in 1714...

, while for Scotland the citations used are those in The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland (both of which are considered legally authoritative). These latter citations are also used in the official Chronological Table of the Statutes.

Only a small number of Acts passed by these parliaments have been given a short title by later legislation.

Primary legislation passed by devolved bodies

All legislation passed by the various devolved parliaments and assemblies has both a short title and a long title.

Parliament of Northern Ireland (1921–1972)

Each piece of legislation passed by the former Parliament of Northern Ireland
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...

 (Stormont) was also known as an Act of Parliament. The system of citation of Northern Ireland Acts of Parliament is almost identical to that for the Westminster parliament, except that the change to numbering by calendar year happened earlier (starting in 1944), and that Northern Ireland Acts are cited in Westminster legislation with "(NI)" appended to the chapter number.

There is a difference in naming convention between Acts passed in Northern Ireland and Acts passed at Westminster but relating to Northern Ireland. Thus, the Criminal Evidence Act (Northern Ireland) 1923 is an Act passed at Stormont, but the Criminal Appeal (Northern Ireland) Act 1930 is an Act passed at Westminster (note the different placement of "(Northern Ireland)" in the two).

Northern Ireland Assembly (From 1999)

Acts passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...

 are cited by calendar year and chapter number.

Scottish Parliament (From 1999)

Each Act of the Scottish Parliament is cited by calendar year and "asp" number; e.g., the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000
Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000
The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. Act 2000 was an act of the Scottish Parliament which was passed by the Parliament on 3 May 2000 and received Royal Assent on 9 June 2000....

 is "2000 asp 5".

Welsh National Assembly (From 1999)

Measures passed by the Welsh National Assembly are cited by calendar year and "nawm" number; e.g., the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 is "2011 nawm 1".

Church of England legislation (From 1920)

Measures passed by the General Synod of the Church of England
General Synod of the Church of England
The General Synod is the deliberative and legislative body of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church of England that had started in the 1850s.- Church Assembly: 1919...

 (formerly the Church Assembly) follow the numbering conventions used for Westminster legislation, except that each Measure has a "Number" rather than a chapter number. For example, the New Parishes Measure 1943 is cited as "6 & 7 Geo. 6 No. 1".

Citation of secondary legislation as a whole (incl. prerogative instruments)

With the exception of Northern Ireland secondary legislation, each piece of secondary legislation made in the United Kingdom since 1948 has been numbered as a Statutory Instrument (or SI). Most individual SIs have what is generally referred to as a "short title" (despite none having a "long title"). Each SI is centrally registered and issued with a number; the numbering resumes from "1" at the start of each calendar year. Thus, the Northern Ireland Negotiations (Referendum) Order 1998 is cited as "SI 1998 No. 1126", or more simply as "SI 1998/1126". Commencement orders are also numbered separately as part of a "C." sub-series; this number is appended to the main number. Statutory Instruments relating to Scotland were similarly numbered as part of an "S." sub-series until the series of Scottish Statutory Instruments began (for which, see below).

The system for Statutory Rules and Orders in place from 1894 to 1947 was less comprehensive. However, those instruments centrally registered and issued with a number follow the same pattern; thus the Trinidad and Tobago (Constitution) Order in Council 1950 is numbered as "SI 1950 No. 510".

The annual volumes of SIs before 1961, and all those for SR&Os, were organised by subject matter rather than by instrument number. This means that these instruments should ideally be cited by both number and page reference; thus the full citation for the Trinidad and Tobago (Constitution) Order in Council 1950 would be "SI 1950 No. 510 (SI 1950 Vol. II p. 1156)".

Some prerogative instruments are also printed in appendices to the annual volumes of SIs. These instruments are not numbered, and are thus cited by page number only; e.g., the Fiji (Appeal to Privy Council) Order in Council 1950 is cited as "SI 1950 Vol. II p. 1555".

Older secondary legislation frequently lacks a short title. An example of an incorrect citation as a result of this can be found in regulation 3 of the Cremation (Amendment) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/92). Reference is made to "the Regulations as to Cremation (1930)", but the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments
Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments
The Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments is a select committee of both the House of Commons and House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to scrutinise all statutory instruments made in exercise of powers granted by Act of Parliament...

, the body which oversees SI drafting, noted that the correct way to cite these regulations would have been, "the Regulations made by the Secretary of State under section 7 of the Cremation Act 1902 and section 10 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1926 and dated 28th October 1930". This longer form of citation was used when the 1930 regulations were revoked by schedule 2 to the Cremation (England and Wales) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/2841).

Scottish Statutory Instruments

A statutory instrument made by the Scottish Government is called a Scottish Statutory Instrument
Scottish Statutory Instrument
A Scottish Statutory Instrument is a form of secondary legislation in Scotland which is made under Scots law by Scottish Ministers and other Scottish authorities such as the Court of Session, through Acts of Sederunt, or the High Court of Justiciary, through Acts of Adjournal...

(or SSI). Each of these is separately numbered, with the numbering resuming from "No. 1" at the start of each calendar year; thus the Radioactive Substances Exemption (Scotland) Order 2011 is cited as "SSI 2011 No. 147".

An Act of Sederunt or an Act of Adjournal made by the Court of Session
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland, and constitutes part of the College of Justice. It sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh and is both a court of first instance and a court of appeal....

 is numbered as an SSI.

Welsh Statutory Instruments

A statutory instrument made by the Welsh Government is called a Wales Statutory Instrument. Each of these is numbered as part of the sequence of UK SIs but is also numbered separately as part of a "W." series, with the numbering resuming from "W. 1" at the start of each calendar year. Thus, the Welsh Language Commissioner (Appointment) Regulations 2011 is cited as "SI 2011 No. 1593 (W. 184)".

Statutory Instruments relating to Northern Ireland

Statutory instruments made by Order in Council as primary legislation for Northern Ireland are numbered as part of the main UK series of SIs, but are also numbered separately as part of an "NI" series, with the numbering resuming from "NI 1" at the start of each calendar year. Legislation passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly cites these instruments by the "NI" number only.

Secondary legislation made by the Northern Ireland Executive
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...

 is numbered sequentially as part of the Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland
Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland
The Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland are the principal form in which delegated legislation is made in Northern Ireland.Statutory Rules are made under the Statutory Rules Order 1979...

, with the numbering resuming from "No. 1" at the start of each calendar year. The numbering mirrors that used for the UK's main series of SIs; thus the Prohibition of Traffic (Ardoyne, Belfast) Order (Northern Ireland) 2011 is cited as "SR 2011 No. 270". Previously this type of secondary legislation was numbered as "Statutory Rules and Orders (Northern Ireland)".

Primary legislation

Each distinct "enactment" within an Act of Parliament is called a section (abbreviated "s.", plural "ss."). Each section has a distinct number, in continual sequence from "s. 1" (section one) onwards. If a section is subdivided or has subordinate elements, then these are known as subsections, each of which has a bracketed number; e.g., "s. 1(4)" is subsection 4 of section 1. Subsections are subdivided in turn into paragraphs, which are identified by an italicised letter; e.g., "s. 1(4)(c)". Subparagraphs are identified with lower-case Roman numerals; e.g., "s. 1(4)(c)(viii)".

In schedules to an Act of Parliament, each distinct numbered element is called a paragraph (abbreviated "para."), which is subdivided in turn into subparagraphs.

The sections within a lengthy or complex Act are sometimes grouped together for convenience to form a Part. A "Part" may in turn be subdivided into "chapters". Other groupings are occasionally found as well.

When an amendment to an Act requires the insertion of a new section part of the way through a numerical sequence, then sequential capital letters are used following the appropriate number; thus, a new section inserted between s. 1 and s. 2 will be numbered "s. 1A".

The terminology for the structure of Acts and Measures of the devolved parliaments and assemblies follows that used for Westminster legislation.

Parliamentary bills

During its passage through the Westminster parliament, each proposed enactment forming part of a bill
Bill (proposed law)
A bill is a proposed law under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature and, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an act or a statute....

 is known as a clause, rather than as a section. For Scottish legislation, the term "section" is used for Bills as for Acts of the Scottish Parliament.

Secondary legislation

The terminology used for the equivalent in secondary legislation of sections of an Act of Parliament depends upon the particular type of instrument; however, the numbering system follows the same pattern. A comparison of terms and abbreviations is shown in the table below.

Comparative table

Note that the naming and citation of provisions included in a schedule is the same across all forms of legislation as the system used for Westminster legislation, and has therefore been omitted from this table.
Type of legislation Main division (1st level) Subdivision (2nd level) Subdivision (3rd level)
Act Section
s. 1
Subsection
s. 1(1)
Paragraph
s. 1(1)(a)
Order in Council Article
art. 1
Paragraph
art. 1(1) or para. 1
Subparagraph
art. 1(1)(a)
Order made by a Secretary of State Article
art. 1
Paragraph
art. 1(1) or para. 1
Subparagraph
art. 1(1)(a)
Rules Rule
rule 1
Paragraph
rule 1(1)
Subparagraph
rule 1(1)(a)
Regulations Regulation
reg. 1
Paragraph
reg. 1(1)
Subparagraph
reg. 1(1)(a)

Interpretation of citations by year, statute, session, chapter, number or letter

Section 19(1) of the Interpretation Act 1978
Interpretation Act 1978
The Interpretation Act 1978 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes provision for the interpretation of Acts of Parliament, Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, Measures of the Church Assembly, subordinate legislation, "deeds and other instruments and...

 provides:

See also

  • Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities
    Oxford Standard for Citation Of Legal Authorities
    The or OSCOLA is the modern method of legal citation in the United Kingdom. First developed by Peter Birks of the University of Oxford Faculty of Law, and now in its 4th edition, it has been adopted by most law schools and publishers in the United Kingdom as well as the courts.-Cases:Cases are to...

     ("OSCOLA")
  • Case citation#England and Wales
  • Case citation#Scotland
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