UK Statute Law Database
Encyclopedia
The UK Statute Law Database is the official web-accessible database
of the statute law of the United Kingdom
, hosted by The National Archives. It contains all primary legislation in force as of 1991, and all primary and secondary legislation since that date; it does not include legislation which was fully repealed prior to 1991. The contents have been revised to reflect legislative changes up to 2002, with material that has been amended since 2002 noted in a table but not yet fully updated.
The content of the new Statute Law Database consists of the combined content of the previous UK Statute Law Database (SLD), and the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website,. Updated legislation on the new website is the same data as that available on SLD. The only exceptions are a few acts that are currently being updated by our editorial team that are available on SLD but will not be available on the new site until the revisions are complete and they are ready to be published to SLD and the new website. Many of the revised documents held by SLD are also available in the OPSI dataset as an “as enacted” version. The new website combines these so you can switch between the different versions
Users of SLD might be particularly interested in the following aspects of the new site:
noted in 1992, "[a]t present the accessibility of statute law to users and the wider public is slow, inconvenient, complicated and subject to several impediments. To put it bluntly, it is often very difficult to find out what the text of a law is - let alone what it means. Something must be done."
, a BT
company previously known as "Secure Information Systems Limited", to create a database containing all the public acts comprised in the publication "Statutes in Force" together with all amendments made since a "base date" of 1 February 1991. The database was delivered by Syntegra in November 1993, but not accepted by the government until Summer 1995 at a cost of £700,000. The database was originally intended for use by the Parliamentary Counsel Office, but following testing with the public service it was decided to make it available to legal practitioners and the private sector on a commercial basis, as well as to public libraries and Citizens Advice Bureau
x.
The original database consisted of an Interleaf
editorial system which allowed legislation to be held and edited in SGML. In 1991 there were no plans to make the database available on the internet. The aim of the project was to create an electronic version of Statutes In Force which would be available on CD-ROM to much the same audience as that to which Statutes In Force had been available prior to 1991.
In 1995 Syntegra developed the first version of the Statute Law Database website. This was only ever available in pilot form and to a limited number of Government users.
, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
, announced that the copyright and charging policy of the Statute Law Database would "be decided nearer the time of implementation in 1997". This date was pushed forwarded to 1999 and then to 2000.
In March 1999, it was disclosed that "[t]he partially updated database is presently available to a number of users within central government who have access to the Statutory Publications Office Intranet. The Lord Chancellor's Department are considering options for the future marketing of the Statute Law Database. These options include free Internet access, the granting of non-exclusive licences to legal information publishers and the provision of a subscription on-line service." In September a demonstration version of the database was made available on the Syntegra Track Record website, containing legislation for the years 1985 to 1995, though this was quickly removed.
, "GSI") and the other for the general public), and the revision and updating of the statute book. Two contracts were signed by the Department for Constitutional Affairs
(DCA) with Computacenter
, one for the delivery of the editorial system, the other for the government enquiry system. The combined cost of the contracts was £458,000.
A content management system
named TSO ActiveText (after TSO, The Stationery Office
) is used in the new system to store legislation in XML
with a specific DTD
. Documents in ActiveText are fragmented and can be edited using XMetaL
which allows editors to check documents in and out of the database for editing. All the legislation from the original SGML database was converted into XML. After the editorial system was completed, further development began on a new online Statute Law Database Enquiry System.
The government's enquiry system was launched on 31 May 2006 with a plan to roll out general access in three phases. The first stage would open the database to a very limited number of users for testing. On 2 August 2006 the Department for Constitutional Affairs
(DCA) commenced the second stage of the database project, allowing the system to be tested in use by issuing login details and passwords to a wide range of selected customers including Government users, law librarians, police staff, Citizens Advice Bureau
x and students. The pilot did not specifically include any commercial legal publishers. Initially, the DCA intended to charge users for access to "historical law", but not current law, however, following pressure notably from The Guardian
and its "Free Our Data" campaign, it was announced in October that the system would be free to use. The SPO's Clare Allison revealed nevertheless that the DCA would be "looking at options that concern the commercial reuse of the data".
The delays involved in realising the database led to a number groups requesting the raw data of the legislation in order to put together their own versions. Among those refused access was Julian Todd, the co-creator of the website TheyWorkForYou
, who stated "I can’t comprehend what the DCA thinks it is gaining by not giving us a database dump of the law." Todd had submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
for disclosure of the data, but this was refused and he brought an appeal before the Information Commissioner.
The database was finally made available to the public on 20 December 2006. Announcing its launch, Baroness Ashton
, a Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Department for Constitutional Affairs
, said that "[t]he Statute Law Database provides an authoritative and easy-to-use historical database of UK statute law. I hope it will be welcomed as a useful tool for professionals who need to keep up with changes to the law as well as those who simply have an interest in historic and current legislation."
in force at 1 February 1991 and secondary legislation issued after that date, some 30,000 texts. All primary legislation on the site has been revised to show the effect of legislation and amendments enacted until 2002. The database is not fully up to date and, as of 2009, there is no estimate for when it will be fully up to date. Editors are currently applying amendments enacted between 2003 and 2007. Acts are targeted for updating according to a system of priorities based on demand ascertained mainly from Webtrends
reports showing which Acts are viewed most frequently. Until December 2008, the responsibility for keeping the database up-to-date lay with the Statutory Publications Office, part of the Ministry of Justice
. Since that date, responsibility has been transferred to a team within the Information and Policy Services Directorate (formerly called the Office of Public Sector Information
) of The National Archives. Following the transfer, a programme of work is now underway to bring together the content of the existing Statute Law Database with "as enacted" original legislation from the website of the Office of Public Sector Information
(OPSI) to form a single "UK Legislation" website.
In addition, a "table of effects" has been published every year since 2002 which lists all the legislation repealed, the effects of primary and secondary legislation brought into force since 2002 on primary legislation in the database.
Other primary legislation that is held in unrevised form includes:
Also the database does not currently include:
There are no plans to extend the database to include the above material. However, a Select Committee report on the "Merits of Statutory Instruments", published on 7 November 2006, recommended that the database should be extended to cover secondary as well as primary legislation. The government responded that this was indeed important, but that "[t]he immediate priority is to ensure that a fully revised and up to date version of the official statute book is delivered for use by the public and that work on this is maintained. After this has been achieved consideration will then be given as to how work can be extended to updating secondary legislation."
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
of the statute law of 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...
, hosted by The National Archives. It contains all primary legislation in force as of 1991, and all primary and secondary legislation since that date; it does not include legislation which was fully repealed prior to 1991. The contents have been revised to reflect legislative changes up to 2002, with material that has been amended since 2002 noted in a table but not yet fully updated.
New Statute Law Database
In December 2008 the Statute Law Database team transferred to The National Archives. This meant that the responsibility for the OPSI and SLD websites became the responsibility of one department. A major consideration of the transfer was to enable the rationalisation of the two websites in order to provide one point of access to all UK legislation and in doing so reduce duplication in effort, increase efficiency (for example taking advantage of technological developments to streamline processes) and provide a more user friendly and accessible service across the board. Since December 2008 a considerable amount of work to look at who the customers of the joint services are and look carefully at their requirements. The resulting service is quite different from the Statute Law Database and it might take some time to get used but overall the new site should provide a far better service than the existing sites.The content of the new Statute Law Database consists of the combined content of the previous UK Statute Law Database (SLD), and the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website,. Updated legislation on the new website is the same data as that available on SLD. The only exceptions are a few acts that are currently being updated by our editorial team that are available on SLD but will not be available on the new site until the revisions are complete and they are ready to be published to SLD and the new website. Many of the revised documents held by SLD are also available in the OPSI dataset as an “as enacted” version. The new website combines these so you can switch between the different versions
Users of SLD might be particularly interested in the following aspects of the new site:
- For the majority of revised legislation now held the ‘as enacted’ and ‘revised’ version. The different versions can be accessed via the buttons in the ‘What Version’ area on the Table of Contents.
- ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ buttons are now available when navigating the content of legislation (this has only been made possible because of the way the legislation is held on the new site).
- ‘Change to Legislation’ – A lot of work has been done in order to make the revised legislation as usable as possible despite the fact it is not fully up to date. The development of the new site has allowed us to take the ‘Tables of Legislative Effects’ information currently published on SLD and incorporate the ‘unapplied effects’ into the content of the legislation at provision level. This means that instead of having to look through the ‘Tables of Effects’ year by year in order to establish the current position of a piece of legislation you can access all the outstanding effects when viewing the Act. The outstanding effects also include links to the affecting legislation meaning that you can view the amendments more easily too.
- Links in annotations – all annotations giving authority for amendments that have been applied now contain links to the affecting legislation (on SLD will only be able to do this for amendments carried out post 2002.)
- Probably one of the main areas of difference from SLD is that the ‘attributes’ information have been removed from the foot of the provisions in order to make it more meaningful to users. The ‘geographical extent’ can now be turned on and off using the ‘show geographical extent’ button and the ‘start date’ information is now presented on the ‘Timeline of Changes’ so as to give the ability to navigate through the legislation at specific points in time.
Background
Access to statute law in the United Kingdom was, for some time, a difficult matter. As the Hansard SocietyHansard Society
The Hansard Society was formed in 1944 to promote parliamentary democracy. Founded and chaired by Commander Stephen King-Hall, the first subscribers were Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee...
noted in 1992, "[a]t present the accessibility of statute law to users and the wider public is slow, inconvenient, complicated and subject to several impediments. To put it bluntly, it is often very difficult to find out what the text of a law is - let alone what it means. Something must be done."
1991 to 1995
The idea for creating a UK-wide legislation database dates back to 1991 when the government awarded a contract to SyntegraSyntegra
Syntegra is a bogie developed by Siemens incorporating an axle mounted gearless electric drive in an inside wheel bearing bogie.The design was unveiled at Innotrans in 2006, and began service trials in 2008 on the Munich U-Bahn.-Design:...
, a BT
BT Group
BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
company previously known as "Secure Information Systems Limited", to create a database containing all the public acts comprised in the publication "Statutes in Force" together with all amendments made since a "base date" of 1 February 1991. The database was delivered by Syntegra in November 1993, but not accepted by the government until Summer 1995 at a cost of £700,000. The database was originally intended for use by the Parliamentary Counsel Office, but following testing with the public service it was decided to make it available to legal practitioners and the private sector on a commercial basis, as well as to public libraries and Citizens Advice Bureau
Citizens Advice Bureau
A Citizens Advice Bureau is one of a network of independent charities throughout the UK that give free, confidential information and advice to help people with their money, legal, consumer and other problems....
x.
The original database consisted of an Interleaf
Interleaf
Founded in 1981, Interleaf was a company that created software products for the technical publishing creation and distribution process. Its initial product was the first commercial document processor that integrated text and graphics editing, producing WYSIWYG output at near-typeset quality...
editorial system which allowed legislation to be held and edited in SGML. In 1991 there were no plans to make the database available on the internet. The aim of the project was to create an electronic version of Statutes In Force which would be available on CD-ROM to much the same audience as that to which Statutes In Force had been available prior to 1991.
In 1995 Syntegra developed the first version of the Statute Law Database website. This was only ever available in pilot form and to a limited number of Government users.
1996 to 2000
On 9 February 1996, Roger FreemanRoger Freeman, Baron Freeman
Roger Norman Freeman, Baron Freeman, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major from 1995 to 1997...
, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties, the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster...
, announced that the copyright and charging policy of the Statute Law Database would "be decided nearer the time of implementation in 1997". This date was pushed forwarded to 1999 and then to 2000.
In March 1999, it was disclosed that "[t]he partially updated database is presently available to a number of users within central government who have access to the Statutory Publications Office Intranet. The Lord Chancellor's Department are considering options for the future marketing of the Statute Law Database. These options include free Internet access, the granting of non-exclusive licences to legal information publishers and the provision of a subscription on-line service." In September a demonstration version of the database was made available on the Syntegra Track Record website, containing legislation for the years 1985 to 1995, though this was quickly removed.
2001 to 2006
In 2004, it was announced that the system designed by Syntegra would be modernised by replacing its editorial database, developing two new enquiry systems (one for government departments (accessible via the Government Secure IntranetGovernment Secure Intranet
Government Secure intranet is a UK government wide area network, whose main purpose is to enable connected organisations to communicate electronically and securely at low protective marking levels.- Use of GSi :...
, "GSI") and the other for the general public), and the revision and updating of the statute book. Two contracts were signed by the Department for Constitutional Affairs
Department for Constitutional Affairs
The Department for Constitutional Affairs was a United Kingdom government department. Its creation was announced on 12 June 2003 with the intention of replacing the Lord Chancellor's Department...
(DCA) with Computacenter
Computacenter
Computacenter plc is the parent company of a group of European companies which provide computer services to public and private sector customers. Despite the spelling of the word "center", it is a UK company based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its competitors include Fujitsu, Getronics, Capgemini and...
, one for the delivery of the editorial system, the other for the government enquiry system. The combined cost of the contracts was £458,000.
A content management system
Content management system
A content management system is a system providing a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based...
named TSO ActiveText (after TSO, The Stationery Office
The Stationery Office
The Stationery Office is a British publishing company that was created in 1996 when the publishing arm of Her Majesty's Stationery Office was privatised. TSO is the official publisher and the distributor for legislation, command and house papers, select committee reports, Hansard, and the London,...
) is used in the new system to store legislation in XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
with a specific DTD
Document Type Definition
Document Type Definition is a set of markup declarations that define a document type for SGML-family markup languages...
. Documents in ActiveText are fragmented and can be edited using XMetaL
XMetaL
XMetaL, or XMetaL Author, is a software application used for creating and editing documents in XML and SGML. It has some features common to word processors, but is a native XML editor that can be configured to work with various standard and custom DTDs and XML Schema...
which allows editors to check documents in and out of the database for editing. All the legislation from the original SGML database was converted into XML. After the editorial system was completed, further development began on a new online Statute Law Database Enquiry System.
The government's enquiry system was launched on 31 May 2006 with a plan to roll out general access in three phases. The first stage would open the database to a very limited number of users for testing. On 2 August 2006 the Department for Constitutional Affairs
Department for Constitutional Affairs
The Department for Constitutional Affairs was a United Kingdom government department. Its creation was announced on 12 June 2003 with the intention of replacing the Lord Chancellor's Department...
(DCA) commenced the second stage of the database project, allowing the system to be tested in use by issuing login details and passwords to a wide range of selected customers including Government users, law librarians, police staff, Citizens Advice Bureau
Citizens Advice Bureau
A Citizens Advice Bureau is one of a network of independent charities throughout the UK that give free, confidential information and advice to help people with their money, legal, consumer and other problems....
x and students. The pilot did not specifically include any commercial legal publishers. Initially, the DCA intended to charge users for access to "historical law", but not current law, however, following pressure notably from The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and its "Free Our Data" campaign, it was announced in October that the system would be free to use. The SPO's Clare Allison revealed nevertheless that the DCA would be "looking at options that concern the commercial reuse of the data".
The delays involved in realising the database led to a number groups requesting the raw data of the legislation in order to put together their own versions. Among those refused access was Julian Todd, the co-creator of the website TheyWorkForYou
TheyWorkForYou
TheyWorkForYou is a website run by mySociety, a project of registered charity UK Citizens Online Democracy, and is a tool for political campaigners and those interested in the Parliamentary activities of UK MPs, Lords, and Northern Ireland MLAs....
, who stated "I can’t comprehend what the DCA thinks it is gaining by not giving us a database dump of the law." Todd had submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level...
for disclosure of the data, but this was refused and he brought an appeal before the Information Commissioner.
The database was finally made available to the public on 20 December 2006. Announcing its launch, Baroness Ashton
Catherine Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland
Catherine Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, , is a British Labour politician who in 2009 became the European Union's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy...
, a Parliamentary Under-Secretary in the Department for Constitutional Affairs
Department for Constitutional Affairs
The Department for Constitutional Affairs was a United Kingdom government department. Its creation was announced on 12 June 2003 with the intention of replacing the Lord Chancellor's Department...
, said that "[t]he Statute Law Database provides an authoritative and easy-to-use historical database of UK statute law. I hope it will be welcomed as a useful tool for professionals who need to keep up with changes to the law as well as those who simply have an interest in historic and current legislation."
Content
The database contains the text of primary legislationPrimary legislation
Primary legislation is law made by the legislative branch of government. This contrasts with secondary legislation, which is usually made by the executive branch...
in force at 1 February 1991 and secondary legislation issued after that date, some 30,000 texts. All primary legislation on the site has been revised to show the effect of legislation and amendments enacted until 2002. The database is not fully up to date and, as of 2009, there is no estimate for when it will be fully up to date. Editors are currently applying amendments enacted between 2003 and 2007. Acts are targeted for updating according to a system of priorities based on demand ascertained mainly from Webtrends
WebTrends
Webtrends is a private company headquartered in Portland, Oregon, United States. It provides web analytics and other software solutions related to marketing intelligence...
reports showing which Acts are viewed most frequently. Until December 2008, the responsibility for keeping the database up-to-date lay with the Statutory Publications Office, part of the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Justice is a ministerial department of the UK Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, who is responsible for improvements to the justice system so that it better serves the public...
. Since that date, responsibility has been transferred to a team within the Information and Policy Services Directorate (formerly called the Office of Public Sector Information
Office of Public Sector Information
The Office of Public Sector Information is the body responsible for the operation of Her Majesty's Stationery Office and of other public information services of the United Kingdom...
) of The National Archives. Following the transfer, a programme of work is now underway to bring together the content of the existing Statute Law Database with "as enacted" original legislation from the website of the Office of Public Sector Information
Office of Public Sector Information
The Office of Public Sector Information is the body responsible for the operation of Her Majesty's Stationery Office and of other public information services of the United Kingdom...
(OPSI) to form a single "UK Legislation" website.
In addition, a "table of effects" has been published every year since 2002 which lists all the legislation repealed, the effects of primary and secondary legislation brought into force since 2002 on primary legislation in the database.
Primary legislation
The database content includes the following primary legislation in updated form:- UK public general Acts (1801 to date);
- Acts of the Parliament of Great BritainParliament of Great BritainThe 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...
(1707–1800); - Acts of the English Parliament (1267-1706);
- Acts of the pre-UK Parliaments (1424–1707);
- UK local Acts (from 1991);
- Acts of the Scottish ParliamentScottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
(1999 to date); - Measures of the Welsh Assembly (2007 to date);
- Acts of the Irish Parliament (1495-1800);
- Acts of the Parliament of Northern IrelandParliament of Northern IrelandThe 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...
(1921–1972); - Measures of the Northern Ireland AssemblyNorthern Ireland Assembly (1973)The Northern Ireland Assembly was a legislative assembly set up by the Government of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1973 to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland with the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive made up of unionists and nationalists....
(1974); - Acts of the Northern Ireland AssemblyNorthern Ireland AssemblyThe 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...
(2000–2002, 2007 to date); - Orders in Council made under Northern Ireland Acts (1974 to date);
- Church of England Measures (1920 to date).
Other primary legislation that is held in unrevised form includes:
- Post-1991 local Acts (and a small number of pre-1991 local Acts).
Secondary legislation
The database also contains certain secondary legislation which is not updated:- Statutory Instruments (from 1991);
- Welsh Statutory Instruments (from 1999);
- Scottish Statutory InstrumentScottish Statutory InstrumentA 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...
s (from 1999); - Statutory Rules of Northern IrelandStatutory Rules of Northern IrelandThe 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...
(from 1991); N.B. for the period 1991-2005 only those Statutory Rules which affect UK legislation are held; - Church Instruments (from 1991).
Current limitations
While the database reflects amendments to primary legislation, it is not up to date.Also the database does not currently include:
- Pre-1991 repealed legislation;
- Most pre-1991 local Acts and revisions to post-1991 local Acts;
- Secondary legislation pre-dating 1991;
- The effect of revocations of or amendments to secondary legislation, so that the full text of post-1991 repealed legislation can be found without any indication as to its repeal;
- Orders in Council made under the Royal PrerogativeRoyal PrerogativeThe royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...
; - Northern Ireland Statutory Rules made between 1991 and 2005 which only affect Northern Ireland;
- Byelaws.
There are no plans to extend the database to include the above material. However, a Select Committee report on the "Merits of Statutory Instruments", published on 7 November 2006, recommended that the database should be extended to cover secondary as well as primary legislation. The government responded that this was indeed important, but that "[t]he immediate priority is to ensure that a fully revised and up to date version of the official statute book is delivered for use by the public and that work on this is maintained. After this has been achieved consideration will then be given as to how work can be extended to updating secondary legislation."
External links
- UK Statute Law Database
- Government promises data shake-up BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
2007-01-12