Described below are the ways in which legislation is cited for the various types of primary legislation on SLD.
Public General Acts of the UK Parliament
These may be cited either:
by the short title (which includes the year) and chapter number (bracketed),
e.g. Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4)
or by just the year and chapter number (without brackets),
e.g. 2005 c. 4
Citations of pre-1963 Acts may also contain a reference to the ‘regnal year’ (that is, the year of the sovereign’s reign) of the session of parliament in which the Act was passed,
e.g. Statute of Westminster 1931 (22 and 23 Geo. 5 c. 4)
or
e.g. 1931 c. 4 (22 & 23 Geo. 5)
This means that the Act was passed in 1931 during the session of Parliament spanning the 22nd and 23rd years of the reign of King George the Fifth.
Local Acts of the UK Parliament
These may be cited either:
by the short title (which includes the year) and chapter number in Roman numerals (bracketed),
e.g. London Local Authorities Act 1996 (c. ix)
or by just the year and chapter number (without brackets),
e.g. 1996 c. ix
Acts of Earlier Parliaments
These may be cited in exactly the same way as UK Public General Acts except that, in the case of Acts of the old Scottish or Irish parliaments, there might also be a letter ‘S’ or ‘I’ as appropriate in square brackets at the end of the citation,
e.g. Writs Act 1672 (c. 16 [S])
or
e.g. 1705 c. 12 [I]
Acts of the Scottish Parliament
These may be cited either:
by the short title (which includes the year) and ‘asp’ number (bracketed),
e.g. Human Tissue (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 4)
or by just the year and ‘asp’ number (without brackets),
e.g. 2006 asp 4
Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly (and other primary legislation for Northern Ireland)
These may be cited either:
by the short title (which includes the year) and chapter number (bracketed),
e.g. Social Security Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 (c. 10)
or by the year and chapter number (without brackets) followed by ‘N.I.’ (bracketed),
e.g. 2002 c. 10 (N.I.)
Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland (1921 to 1972) and Measures of the Northern Ireland Assembly (1974 only) are cited in exactly the same way as Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
For the citation of Northern Ireland Orders in Council, see under ‘Statutory Instruments’ below.
Church Measures
These may be cited either:
by the short title (which includes the year) and Measure number (bracketed),
e.g. Clergy Discipline Measure 2003 (No. 3)
or by just the year and Measure number (without brackets),
e.g. 2003 No. 3
See also
Parent topic