Friendly URLs must be specified in a specific format, as shown below:
The table below details the elements which are required when creating a 'friendly URL'. It is not necessary to use all the elements but you must include at least the web address (entry 1 in the table), the word 'documents' (entry 2 in the table) and a year (entry 3 in the table). The order of the elements must follow the order in which they are laid out in the table. If you include more than the 3 initial elements you can not skip an element in the sequence, e.g. if you want to specify a legislation type (entry 5 in the table) then you must specify a series number (entry 4 in the table).
|
Item Order |
Item |
Summary |
|
1 |
http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk |
This is the standard URL (web address) to access the legislation database. |
|
2 |
/documents |
This 'keyword' must be appended to the standard URL. It instructs the system to consider anything that follows as legislation search criteria. |
|
3 |
YEAR |
Specify the year in which the legislation you wish to find was made or enacted. The year should be entered as four digits, in the form yyyy - for example, 1970. No brackets or any other punctuation is required. |
|
4 |
NUMBER
|
If you have specified a legislation year, you can refine the search by specifying a legislation number (e.g. the chapter number of an Act). Numbers should be entered without any associated letters. For example, to search for c. 2 you would enter 2. No brackets or any other punctuation is required. If the series number of the legislation is expressed as a roman numeral in the Act you must enter it as an arabic number for this field. Note: the rules for expressing the number of an item of legislation are different if you are going on to specify lower level elements - see items 6-8 below. |
|
5 |
TYPE |
If you have specified a legislation year and number, you can further refine the search by specifying a legislation type. Legislation types should be specified using acronyms defined in the Table of Abbreviated Legislation Types at the end of this page - for example: ukpga, uksi, asp, sr. These acronyms follow the format used on the OPSI website. |
|
6-8 |
LEVEL 1, LEVEL 2, |
You can specify three further levels of refinement. This is additional information regarding the division level which can be added to the URL. For example numbered Parts or sections can be found in this way. However, the first level must always be the highest level of the document (i.e. the level of the document itself) e.g. c20. (See example three below and the third column of the Table of Abbreviated Legislation Types titled 'LEVEL 1 Example Entries'). If you only specify the highest level the whole document will open. Lower levels can then be specified to open divisions such as Part, Schedule and even individual paragraphs. Note that sections without a number or which are more than two levels below that of the whole document will not be directly accessible by this method. Each 'level' should be separated with a forward slash (/) character. Where a prefix is used, no spaces or punctuation should be specified. |
The following examples show how a friendly URL can be matched to information in the document that it finds.
Example One
Where http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/documents/2007/1 is typed into the web address bar, all items of legislation enacted or made in 2007 with the series number 1 are returned. This search can be narrowed down further (see example two below).
Example 2
Where http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/documents/2007/1/ukpga is typed into the web address bar all Public General Acts of the UK Parliament enacted in 2007 with the series number 1 are returned. In this case there is only one Act in that category and therefore you are taken straight to the Results within Legislation page for that Act. This search can be narrowed down further (see example 3 below).
Example 3
Where http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/documents/2007/1/ukpga/c1/1 is typed into the web address bar you will be taken straight to section 1 of 2007 c. 1. In this URL you will notice that the highest level of the document is expressed as 'c1'. This abbreviation is derived from the chapter number of the Act. LEVEL 1 must always be the highest level of the document (i.e. the whole document). Examples of how these will be expressed for each legislation type can be found in the Table of Abbreviated Legislation Types at the end of this page.
Example 4
Where http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/documents/1949/76/ukpga/c76/FirstSchedule/PartI is typed into the web address bar you will be taken straight to Part I of 1949 c. 76, Sch. I.
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|
NOTE that the way in which lower levels of division within legislation are expressed must comply precisely with the way in which they are expressed in the legislation itself. So, when specifying lower levels, you should consider that legislative drafting style has changed over the years and may vary between legislation types. For example, in older legislation a Schedule might be headed ‘First Schedule’, in later legislation ‘Schedule I’ (roman numeral), and more recently ‘Schedule 1’ (arabic number). Similarly, the numbers of individual provisions may also be expressed in different ways (e.g. roman or arabic numerals) or may even be prefixed with a word (e.g. ‘Article 3’).
It is recommended that if you do not know the precise format for each level of the document you are concerned with, you should limit your search to higher levels. Also, there may be circumstances, especially in older legislation, where structural anomalies will make it impossible to define friendly URLs below the level of the whole Act. |
|
Legislation Type |
Abbreviation to be used in friendly URLs |
LEVEL 1 example entries |
|
Act (UK Public General) |
ukpga |
c1, c2, c3, c4 etc |
|
Act (Local UK) (Unrevised) |
ukla |
ci, cii, ciii etc |
|
Act (Local UK) (Revised) |
cukla |
ci, cii, ciii etc |
|
Act (Scottish Parliament) |
asp |
asp1, asp2, asp3 etc |
|
Measure (Welsh) Assembly |
mwa |
nawm1, nawm2 etc |
|
Act (N.I. Assembly) (Unrevised) |
nia |
chapter1,chapter2 etc |
|
Act (N.I. Assembly) (Revised) |
cnia |
chapter1,chapter2 etc |
|
Order in Council (N.I.) (Unrevised) |
nisi |
no412(ni2) etc |
|
Order in Council (N.I.) (Revised) |
cnisi |
no412(ni2) etc |
|
Measure (N.I. Assembly 1974) |
mnia |
chapter2, chapter3 etc |
|
Act (N.I. Parl 1921 - 1972) |
apni |
chapter2, chapter3 etc |
|
Act (Old English Parliament) |
aep |
c20, c21, c22 etc |
|
Act (Old GB Parliament) |
apgb |
c20, c21, c22 etc |
|
Act (Old Scottish Parliament) |
oasp |
c21, c22, c23 etc |
|
Act (Old Irish Parliament) |
aip |
c5, c6, c7 etc. |
|
Church of England Measure |
ukcm |
no1, no2, no3 etc |
|
Statutory Instruments (UK) |
uksi |
no1, no2, no3 etc OR where the SI is a commencement order you will need to add in the commencement order series number too e.g. no114(c4) |
|
Statutory Instruments (Local UK) |
uklsi |
no1, no2, no3 etc |
|
Scottish Statutory Instruments |
ssi |
no1, no2, no3 etc OR where the SI is a commencement order you will need to add in the commencement order series number too e.g. no81(c2) |
|
Scottish Statutory Instruments (Local Scottish) |
slsi |
no1, no2, no3 etc |
|
Welsh Statutory Instruments |
wsi |
no140(w6) OR where the SI is a commencement order you will need to add in the commencement order series number too e.g. no1274(w73)(c46) |
|
Welsh Statutory Instruments (Local Welsh) |
wlsi |
no1, no2, no3 etc
|
|
Statutory Rules (N.I.) |
sr |
no1, no2, no3 etc |
|
Church Instrument |
ukcm |
no1, no2, no3 etc |
See also
Parent topic
