Typical questions

• • Is the Treason Act still in force?

• • Which breeds of dogs are illegal in the UK?

Starting points

• • Students from a range of disciplines may need to consult legislation. Many may be unfamiliar with the terminology. Specialist libraries such as the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (ials.sas.ac.uk/library) have research guides on their websites that can help.

• • Basic information required is jurisdiction, whether the act is still in force and if the original text or subsequent amendments or annotations are required.

• • Increasingly, it is possible to trace examples of full text legislation online. However, some websites do not include items that are no longer in force. Also, they may not contain subsequent amendments. Check help screens carefully.

Recommended websites

UK legislation

There are two main types of legislation in the UK:

• • Primary legislation – Acts of Parliament or Statutes. These are sub-divided into Public General Acts or Local and Personal Acts. A typical modern Public General Act consists of the following parts: title, year and chapter number (e.g. Welfare Reform Act 2007 c.5); the purpose of the Act; date of Royal Assent; the body of the Act; schedule providing information about repeals and amendments resulting from the Act.

• • Secondary legislation – Statutory Instruments (which are often called Codes, Orders, Regulations, Rules) and usually preceded by the prefix SI and a number and date.

Detailed information about the law-making process can be found on the UK Parliament website: www.parliament.uk/education/about-your-parliament/ how-laws-are-made

Halsbury's Statutes (Subscription)

www.lexisnexis.co.uk/en-uk/products/halsburys-statutes-of-england-and- wales.page

Well-regarded source available in print or via commercial databases. Arranged by subject. Contains Acts currently in force and as amended. Each Act is annotated with information on parliamentary debates, repeals and secondary legislation.

Legislation.gov.uk [Basic]

www.legislation.gov.uk

Official website maintained by The National Archives on behalf of HM Government Publishing. Offers free access to legislation from 1267 to the present day. Includes Public General, Local Acts and statutory instruments. It includes access to subsequent revisions to legislation. Consult the help files for details of exclusions and the display of revisions.

Many libraries also have access to commercial subscription services that contain the full text of Acts with revisions and commentaries, plus links to related legislation and cases. Well-known examples are:

HeinOnline (Subscription) [Specialist]

home.heinonline.org

Includes a treaty and agreements library with full text access to current and historic US agreements.