Difference between revisions of "Revising Legislation/Introduction to Revising Legislation"
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===The Editorial Process=== | ===The Editorial Process=== | ||
| − | When we receive a new piece of legislation, a newly enacted Act for example, the first thing we do is to analyse it carefully to identify all its impacts on other legislation. These are mostly amendments to the text of the other legislation | + | When we receive a new piece of legislation, a newly enacted Act for example, the first thing we do is to analyse it carefully to identify all its impacts on other legislation. These are mostly amendments to the text of the other legislation. But there are also many effects that do not change the text, such as when the other legislation is said to be ‘applied’ or ‘modified’. We also note other information about new primary legislation, such as when it comes into force and its geographical extent or territorial application. We use this information when setting up the timeline and extent facilities for the legislation and its provisions on legislation.gov.uk. |
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| + | A version of the legislation 'as enacted' is published on legislation.gov.uk shortly after it is enacted. Once we have entered all of the impacts on other legislation, and inserted any annotations needed at this stage about commencement or extent, we publish a 'Latest Available (Revised)' version. | ||
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| + | As soon as the analysis of the legislation is complete, we tabulate the the extracted information about its effects on other legislation. This is then added to the ‘Changes to Legislation’ facility on legislation.gov.uk. This process typically takes around four to eight weeks, depending on the volume of new legislation. If the Act is very large, or very heavily affects other legislation, or if we've received a large number of Acts that have received Royal Assent at the same time, it can take longer. If the primary legislation on legislation.gov.uk has any unapplied effects, we let the user know by flagging it in the 'Changes to Legislation' banner on the website. Clicking on the banner reveals the outstanding changes. | ||
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| + | This information also helps the editor as the bulk of the editorial work involves carrying through the effects of the new legislation into the affected legislation by editing the text and adding appropriate annotations. | ||
Revision as of 10:22, 22 July 2015
The National Archives' Legislation Services team is responsible for revising the legislation on legislation.gov.uk, with the exception of Northern Ireland legislation, which is revised by staff in the Northern Ireland Statutory Publications Office. If you'd like to find out more go to About us.
The National Archives has also introduced an Expert Participation programme, where partners can contribute to revising the legislation on legislation.gov.uk. The expert participation process, involving review by a qualified review editor, ensures accuracy, with collaboration expanding the number of contributors who are updating legislation. Our partners to date include participants from the legal publishing industry, government departments and the devolved administrations, as well as additional editorial services provided by The Stationery Office, who are The National Archives' contractor.
Revising legislation involves amending the text of the legislation and adding annotations that contain information about effects on legislation or other editorial information. This section explains our approach to editing legislation, describes the types of annotation we use and gives an overview of the main editorial conventions we follow in drafting annotations.
Our Approach to Editing Legislation
Principles
A key principle is to present the revised text of legislation clearly and accurately without gloss or comment. We give the authority for changes to the text, and record any other effects that make some difference to the meaning, scope or application of the legislation. But otherwise, we aim to let the legislation speak for itself precisely as the legislature has framed it. We use additional editorial information sparingly, generally either to explain our presentation of the text where necessary, or to draw attention to some difficulty in the reading of the text that has arisen from the way in which it has been amended. We avoid interpretation as far as possible, though an element of interpretation is sometimes required in deciding whether (or how) one piece of legislation affects another.
The Editorial Process
When we receive a new piece of legislation, a newly enacted Act for example, the first thing we do is to analyse it carefully to identify all its impacts on other legislation. These are mostly amendments to the text of the other legislation. But there are also many effects that do not change the text, such as when the other legislation is said to be ‘applied’ or ‘modified’. We also note other information about new primary legislation, such as when it comes into force and its geographical extent or territorial application. We use this information when setting up the timeline and extent facilities for the legislation and its provisions on legislation.gov.uk.
A version of the legislation 'as enacted' is published on legislation.gov.uk shortly after it is enacted. Once we have entered all of the impacts on other legislation, and inserted any annotations needed at this stage about commencement or extent, we publish a 'Latest Available (Revised)' version.
As soon as the analysis of the legislation is complete, we tabulate the the extracted information about its effects on other legislation. This is then added to the ‘Changes to Legislation’ facility on legislation.gov.uk. This process typically takes around four to eight weeks, depending on the volume of new legislation. If the Act is very large, or very heavily affects other legislation, or if we've received a large number of Acts that have received Royal Assent at the same time, it can take longer. If the primary legislation on legislation.gov.uk has any unapplied effects, we let the user know by flagging it in the 'Changes to Legislation' banner on the website. Clicking on the banner reveals the outstanding changes.
This information also helps the editor as the bulk of the editorial work involves carrying through the effects of the new legislation into the affected legislation by editing the text and adding appropriate annotations.