Tracing UK Acts of Parliament
A useful factsheet on tracing UK Acts of Parliament has been produced by the House of Commons Information Office:
Regnal years
Prior to 1963, Acts of Parliament were numbered using the year of the sovereign’s reign in which the Act was passed, a system known as regnal years. Under the regnal year system, an Act passed early in a parliamentary session has a citation such as 5 Edw. 7, c. 9, for the ninth chapter in the session that commenced in the fifth year of the reign of King Edward 7th. It was common for a session to extend into a second regnal year, giving rise to a citation such as 8 & 9 Geo. 6, c. 4.
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King Jon signs the Magna Carta (Source: Wikipedia) |
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How to Cite Legal Authorities by UK legislation databases
Other databases that have versions of historical statutes and regulations include the following:
UK historical legislation
Ancient laws (pre-1200s)
Several compilations of pre-1200 legislation exist and many can be found through the library catalogue:
Select Charters and Other Illustrations of English Constitutional History from the Earliest Times to the Reign of Edward the First by William Stubbs (1825-1901), one of the leading historians of his generation, pursued his academic research alongside his work as a clergyman. He was elected Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford in 1866 and appointed a bishop in 1884. Stubbs was a major figure in medieval English historiography, with special interests in legal and constitutional history. This work was first published in 1870. It begins with an outline of English constitutional history, which he urged should be part of the curriculum, and then presents documents from Roman times up to the thirteenth century. Eight editions followed in Stubbs' lifetime, and it became a core textbook. The ninth edition of 1913, revised by H. W. C. Davis (1874-1928), is reissued here, and contains better editions and translations of Anglo-Saxon and French texts than were available in Stubbs' lifetime, as well as some then newly discovered material and an updated glossary.
Laws from 1235 onwards
Statutes of the Realm is the most authoritative sources for older UK legislation.
Hansard
Hansard is the record of parliamentary debates.
Indexes of UK legislation
Chronological Table of the Statutes
Note: for more information on the definitions of local, private and personal acts, see the introduction to each table
The House of Commons Journal and the House of Lords Journal
The House of Commons Journal is the corrected, archive edition of Votes and Proceedings, the formal record of House of Commons business for a given day.
The House of Lords Journal is the corrected, archive edition of Minutes of Proceedings, the formal record of House of Lords business for a given day.
Raithby's Index
Australian historical legislation
Historical acts, bills and hansard for the Commonwealth and the States can be accessed through the following sources:
Commonwealth
New South Wales
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
Other resources
