Difference between revisions of "Editorial Update/Update Editor Checklist"
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*If you have inserted/substituted text and it contains a power, have you set the [[Editorial_Update/XMetaL_and_XML_tagging#ConfersPower_Attribute|power attribute]] in the attribute inspector to power = true? | *If you have inserted/substituted text and it contains a power, have you set the [[Editorial_Update/XMetaL_and_XML_tagging#ConfersPower_Attribute|power attribute]] in the attribute inspector to power = true? | ||
| − | See more on [[Editorial_Update/ | + | See more on [[Editorial_Update/Editorial_Practice_Guide#APPROACH_TO_UPDATE_-_SOME_BASIC_RULES_AND_EXCEPTIONS|Approach to Update]] and [[Editorial_Update/Editorial_Practice_Guide#SPECIFIC_UPDATE_ISSUES|Specific Update Issues]]. |
====Check the annotation==== | ====Check the annotation==== | ||
Revision as of 14:36, 22 February 2024
| Before you start: | Reminders and things to look out for |
| Research | Are the affected legislation and affected provision correct? |
| Is the type of effect correct? | |
| Is it limited extent amendment? | |
| Commencement details - is your amendment wholly or only partially in force? | |
| Are there savings/transitional provisions? | |
| Is there a Comment to Editor? Are there any powers in your amendment text? | |
| Is there an appended or suggested commentary? | |
| XMetaL | Be careful to select the correct task in the Resource Manager |
| Make sure you know what to do to carry out the amendment | |
| Has your amendment been applied correctly? | |
| Preview | Double check the point in time (PiT), amendment and annotation before moving on. |
| Issues | If you can’t apply your amendment or something goes wrong, check Wiki for workarounds and talk to someone about it first before moving on. |
Research: is the amendment data correct? do you know what to do when you carry out the update?
Check the TOES data for your amendment
You can use these URLs to check the TOES data:
https://editorial.legislation.gov.uk/changes/affected/<type>/<year>/<number>/data.xls?extended=full-with-co&sort=affecting-year-number
https://editorial.legislation.gov.uk/changes/affecting/<type>/<year>/<number>/data.xls?extended=full-with-co&sort=affecting-year-number
Does the TOES data reflect the amending provision?
Open the amending legislation in legislation.gov.uk and check:
- Most importantly, is the effect recorded against the correct affected legislation?
- Is the type of effect right?
- Commencement? Is there a commencement order? Look at that.
- Extent? Check the extent provision. Should it be a limited extent/TA amendment? If so, does it require concurrent versions?
- Are there savings/transitional provisions?
- Is there a Comment to Editor saying your amendment contains (or confers) a power?
Approach to update
Where unsure about what to do, have you consulted the Wiki guidance? If you cannot find what you need, ask a reviewer. Perhaps the Wiki guidance could be added to or improved. Feed this back to Sarah and Richard.
For instructions about how to do provision level and high level insertions, substitutions and repeals, follow the links on the Textual amendments page.
Renumbering provisions: remember that brackets only need to go around the provision number.
Beware in particular unequal substitutions and high level amendments which change the structure of the document. If in doubt, talk to a reviewer to check your approach before continuing.
See more on Approach to Update, Specific Update Issues, Common Update Errors and Applying partially in force amendments which are then brought further into force over time.
XMetaL: has your amendment been applied correctly?
See the detailed guidance on XMetaL and XML tagging.
In particular, look out for the following:
In the Resource Manager
- Beware the order of tasks in the XMetaL Resource Manager. It does not always follow the same order as the tasks shown on the Update Details page. It tends to put whole sub-provision additions first and whole sub-provision repeals last. It may also not display the full affected or affecting provision details, so you need to be careful to select the right task.
When you carry out the amendment in the XML
1. Is your amendment straightforward or do you need to do anything else in the data?
You may need to do more to apply your amendment than just selecting the text and choosing the XMetaL amendment option. For block amendments, it may be better to select a part of the amendment tagging and do your amendment step by step rather than picking up the whole amendment by using the block amendment tags. For example:
- unequal substitutions
- renumbering (remember that brackets only need to go around the provision number)
- “sub-provision AND word” amendments, look out for conjunctions that need moving
- definitions, ordered and unordered lists
- tables
- Annexes in REUL
- Amendment to earlier affecting provision effects (see below re removing c-notes)
Do you need to retag your amendment, or remove any tagging (drafter’s footnotes, internal links), non-breaking spaces?
2. Do you need to amend the attributes of any of the tagging?
- if the inserted/substituted text contains a power, have you set the power attribute in the attribute inspector to power = true?
- hyperlinks
- in ordered lists in definitions (or in retained EU law provisions) you may need to use the “number override” attribute to get the right paragraph number to show in preview
3. Where tagging needs to be changed, use the Element List to insert new tagging. As a rule, do not copy and paste tagging (unless you have removed its attribute metadata, e.g. restrict start date, extent, etc).
4. Pay attention to spacing, punctuation, existing amendment brackets and commentary references (or comrefs) for drafter’s footnotes as well as existing editorial annotations. This may determine where you place your cursor.
- Will applying your amendment remove a bracket or a comref? Where all the words for an existing amendment are now removed/replaced then the existing brackets can go. But where one or more words remains the original brackets should remain around those words.
- Does the drafter’s footnote need to be kept any longer?
After you have carried out the amendment in the XML
Check the amendment
ALWAYS scroll back up after you have carried your amendment and check it has actually been applied: an amendment will not be applied if your cursor is in an illegitimate position in the XML tagging, but XMetaL doesn’t warn you, it just sends you down the page to look at the annotation as usual. Scroll back up to look at what you think you’ve just done to the XML.
- Are the amendment brackets in the correct location?
- Are there any spaces you need to close up (or insert)?
- If you have inserted/substituted text and it contains a power, have you set the power attribute in the attribute inspector to power = true?
See more on Approach to Update and Specific Update Issues.
Check the annotation
Once the amendment has been carried out and the auto-annotation has been generated, check that the annotation is accurate and complete whilst still in XMetaL to see if it says what you were expecting, i.e. check that it is the correct annotation for the effect you have just applied. If not, it’s simple to UNDO the effect while still in XMetaL or for more minor errors you can carry out any edits if necessary (refer back to the effects spreadsheet if you need to):
- Type of Effect is correct;
- If the amendment type is ‘omitted’ or ‘ceases to have effect’ that the annotation contains the words ‘by virtue of’ instead of the usual 'by';
- Punctuation is correct (e.g. no unnecessary spaces);
- Date cited is that of the Point of Time you are editing and where applicable the correct In Force Date Qualification has been added after the date (check effects spreadsheet for any qualifications). If your amendment is not ‘wholly in force’ and has a different type of In Force Date Qualification (for example ‘for specified purposes’), this will be included in the annotation and you will need to make sure that this has been rendered correctly: for further details on what the annotation should look like see Annotations and In Force Date Qualifications;
- If a limited extent amendment, the extent is referenced if it needs to be;
- Affected provision is correct;
- Affecting provision is correct;
- Savings are referenced (where applicable); and
- Commencement order is referenced (where applicable).
See more detail on the structure of textual amendment annotations in Annotation Conventions.
Preview: double check the point in time (PiT), amendment and annotation before moving on
Double check your amendment in the update details preview and website preview once checked in.
Look out for:
- Sometimes things can go wrong on check in. You may need to refresh the page to see your changes (Ctrl+F5).
- Beware common update errors.
- Is your PiT reflected in the timeline on website preview? Your amendment may not be visible if the timeline is wrong. Click on the timeline resolver button in website preview to fix this. You can select a PiT to add from the dropdown menu.
- Check spacing and punctuation. Are the amendment brackets in the correct position or has one or both of them slipped to an incorrect position, to the end of the provision for example?
- Check for images (e.g. formulas and forms) in the affecting provision and, if present, ensure that you use the image tool in website preview to make them appear in your amended provision.
- Check that your new annotation reflects the TOES data. In particular check that the In Force Date, In Force Date Qualification and Commencement Order details have been correctly added. (Sometimes dates get reversed or the IFDate and IFDQ data hasn’t come through into the annotation as we would expect).
- Blanket amendments: please remember to add a note for reviewer to tell them which provisions you have amended.
See more on Annotation Conventions and Applying partially in force amendments which are then brought further into force over time.
If you need to correct an annotation you can use the edit annotation button in preview or fix it in XMetaL, but beware hyperlinks for multiple cited affecting sub-provisions at same level.
Non-textual auto annotations
Spot check I-notes (see Applying “coming into force” effects), but pay particular attention where affected provision in TOES is complicated, e.g. multiple ranges of sub-provisions or combinations of non-sequential sub-provisions cited. You can use the skeleton view to do this or open the whole doc in website view and use Ctr+F to search for the date in the I-note annotations.
Double check C-notes (non-textual amendments) against TOES data and affecting provision and pay particular attention to “amendment to earlier affecting provision” effects which will require some kind of editorial action and should not really be classed as auto annotations.
Issues: if you can’t apply your amendment or something goes wrong, check Wiki for workarounds and talk to someone about it first before moving on
Can you apply your amendment?
If not, please investigate and try to work out why not (TOES error now or earlier? Have we missed an earlier amendment or applied it incorrectly? Is there an error in the affecting legislation?) and then contact a reviewer to consult about the best way of dealing with the situation.
After consulting, do what was agreed and add a note for the reviewer next to the problematic task explaining what you’ve done, what advice you received and who from.
If the problem derives from an error in the affecting legislation, remember to log a Lex Error and add a note for reviewer to tell them you’ve done so:
If there is a system error in carrying out your amendment or an error in the annotation in that it does not properly reflect the TOES data, this should be raised in an email to Richard with a brief description of the issue, details of the TOES effect and the update details page URL so we can feed it back to TSO.
Below are links to common update problems and workarounds:
Where you’ve had to “bodge” an amendment (i.e. by correcting tagging and copying and pasting text), compare the text of your new amended provision to the affecting provision to make sure it’s right using this tool: https://text-compare.com/