Revising Legislation/Introduction to UK Legislation

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This section will give you a good overview of the different types of UK legislation, including which types of legislation are carried on legislation.gov.uk and whether or not they are revised.


Division into Primary and Secondary Legislation

There are two main categories of legislation in the UK:

  • Primary legislation
  • Secondary legislation


‘Primary legislation’ is the general term used to describe the main laws passed by the legislative bodies of the UK. The main types of primary legislation are:

  • Acts of the UK Parliament.
  • Acts of the pre-UK Parliaments.
  • Acts of the Scottish Parliament.
  • Measures of the National Assembly for Wales.
  • Acts of the National Assembly for Wales.
  • Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly (and other primary legislation for Northern Ireland).
  • Church of England Measures (this is legislation passed by the General Synod of the Church of England).

These types of legislation are sometimes referred to as ‘statutes’. The 'statute book' means the whole of the statute law currently in force.

The term ‘primary legislation’ also includes legislative instruments made by the Crown and the Privy Council under the royal prerogative (called ‘Prerogative Orders’).


‘Secondary legislation’ (also called ‘subordinate legislation’) is legislation made by a person or body under authority contained in primary legislation. Powers to make secondary legislation are normally conferred to ministers, on the Crown, or on public bodies. For example, the Office of Communications (OFCOM) is given powers to make secondary legislation by the Communications Act 2003.

The main types of secondary legislation are:

  • Statutory Instruments.
  • Scottish Statutory Instruments.
  • Welsh Statutory Instruments.
  • Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland.
  • Church Instruments.
  • Bye-laws.

For a full list of the types of legislation held on legislation.gov.uk and whether they are revised, see the table below.

Types of Primary Legislation

Acts of the UK Parliament

Most of the Acts passed by the UK Parliament are ‘Public General Acts’. They deal with matters of general public interest. A small number of Acts are ‘Private Acts’. There are two types of Private Acts; ‘Local Acts’ (which deal with matters of local interest) and ‘Personal Acts’ (which deal with particular persons, and are very rare these days). These two classes of Acts are numbered differently to Public General Acts. You can find out more about the UK parliament and the UK legislative process at www.parliament.uk.

Acts of the pre-UK Parliaments

There are still many Acts in force that were enacted by the parliaments of the separate countries that existed in the British Isles before the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was formed in 1801. These are Acts that were enacted by:

  • the English Parliament (which encompassed Wales) from 1267 to 1706.
  • the Scottish Parliament from 1424 to 1707.
  • the Parliament of Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) from 1707 to 1800.
  • the Irish Parliament from 1495 to 1800.

Acts of the Scottish Parliament

The Scotland Act 1998 devolved power to make legislation to a new Scottish Parliament sitting in Edinburgh. The Scottish Parliament has power to legislate for Scotland on matters not specifically reserved to the UK Parliament. There is no separate category for Acts that are local or personal. You can find out more about the Scottish Parliament and the legislative process in Scotland at www.scottish.parliament.uk.

Measures of the National Assembly for Wales

The National Assembly for Wales sits in Cardiff and was established by the Government of Wales Act 1998. The Act gave the Assembly powers to make secondary legislation, in the form of Statutory Instruments.

The Government of Wales Act 2006 gave the Assembly powers to make primary legislation, initially in the form of ‘Measures’. Measures required the approval of the UK Government or Parliament and were published in both the English and Welsh languages. There is no separate category for local or personal Measures.

Acts of the National Assembly for Wales

Following a referendum in March 2011, the National Assembly for Wales gained the power to make Acts (this power was provided for in the Government of Wales Act 2006). Unlike the earlier Measures, Acts of the National Assembly for Wales can be passed without first seeking the approval of the UK Government or Parliament.

There is no separate category for Acts of the National Assembly for Wales that are local or personal. Acts of the Welsh Assembly are published in both the English and Welsh languages.

Acts of Senedd Cymru

On 6 May 2020 the National Assembly for Wales was renamed Senedd Cymru or Welsh Parliament. An Act of Senedd Cymru (Welsh: Deddf gan Senedd Cymru), or informally an "Act of the Senedd", is primary legislation that, since that date, can be made by the Senedd under the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c.32), Pt. 4 as amended by the Wales Act 2017 (c. 4) and the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (anaw 1).

Acts of the Senedd are published in both the English and Welsh languages. You can find out more about the Senedd and the legislative process in Wales at the Welsh Parliament website. There is no separate category for local or personal Acts of the Senedd.

Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly (and other primary legislation for Northern Ireland)

Northern Ireland has a complex history that has lead to a number of changes in the way that primary legislation has been made. You can find out more by going to the Note on Northern Ireland Legislation in the Background to Revised Legislation section.

The types of primary legislation for Northern Ireland still in existence are:

  • Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland (1921 – 1972).
  • Measures of the Northern Ireland Assembly (1974 only).
  • Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly (2000 – 2002 and 2007 to date).
  • Orders in Council made under the Northern Ireland Acts (1972 to date).

The last category (Orders in Council) are UK statutory instruments (statutory instruments are secondary legislation) but they constitute, in effect, the primary legislation for Northern Ireland during periods of 'direct rule' by the UK government. Orders in Council continue to be used to legislate for Northern Ireland in matters that have not been devolved to the Assembly. There is no separate category in Northern Ireland for primary legislation of a local or personal nature.

You can find out more about the Northern Ireland Assembly and its work at www.niassembly.gov.uk.

Church of England Measures

The Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 gave the Church Assembly the power to make legislation on matters concerning the Church of England. In 1970, the Assembly was replaced by the General Synod of the Church of England. Measures have the full force of an Act of Parliament.

You can find out more about Church of England legislation at www.churchofengland.org.

Prerogative Orders

The Crown and the Privy Council (whose members are ministers of the Crown) can legislate by royal prerogative. Prerogative Orders that are made by the Queen on the advice of the Privy Council are called ‘Orders in Council’. When they are made by the Lords of the Privy Council, without any approval by the Queen, they are called ‘Orders of Council'. Orders in Council and Orders of Council can also be made under powers in Statutory Instruments rather than under the prerogative (for example, the Orders in Council containing legislation for Northern Ireland). For more information see the Privy Council website.

Types of Secondary Legislation

Secondary legislation (also called ‘subordinate legislation') is made under authority contained in primary legislation.

Statutory Instruments (UK)

These are instruments made under authority contained mainly in Acts of the UK Parliament (but see also ‘Welsh Statutory Instruments’ below). There are three main types of Statutory Instrument:

  • ‘Orders’
  • ‘Regulations’
  • ‘Rules’

However, Statutory Instruments can be described in many other ways, for example ‘Scheme’, ‘Direction’ and ‘Declaration’. Different types of instruments serve different functions, but they all have the same legislative force.

Welsh Statutory Instruments, and the Orders in Council made under the Northern Ireland Acts, are included in the same numbering sequence as UK Statutory Instruments, but are distinguished by a subsidiary number in brackets after the S.I. number (e.g. “(W. 22)”, “(N.I. 15)”, etc.).

There are also UK Statutory Instruments that relate exclusively to Scotland. These are included in the UK numbering sequence and are distinguished by a subsidiary number (e.g. “(S. 27)”). These are not the same as Scottish Statutory Instruments (see below), which have their own numbering sequence, as do Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland.

Scottish Statutory Instruments

These are instruments (secondary legislation) made since 1999 under authority contained in Acts of the Scottish Parliament. They have their own ‘SSI’ numbering sequence, separate from the UK (‘SI’) sequence. There are three main types of Scottish Statutory Instrument - ‘Orders’, ‘Regulations’ and ‘Rules’. There are also Scotland rules of court contained in Statutory Instruments and these are called ‘Acts of Sederunt’ and ‘Acts of Adjournal’.

Welsh Statutory Instruments

Welsh Statutory Instruments are Statutory Instruments that relate specifically to Wales. They are numbered in the same sequence as UK Statutory Instruments but are distinguished by a subsidiary number in brackets after the S.I. number (e.g. “(W. 22)”). They may be made under authority contained in Acts of the UK Parliament, Measures of the National Assembly for Wales or Acts of the National Assembly for Wales. Welsh Statutory Instruments are published in both the English and Welsh languages.

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

These are the equivalent of Statutory Instruments for Northern Ireland. They may be made under authority contained in Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly. They may also be made under authority contained in Acts of the UK Parliament or in the Orders in Council containing the primary legislation for Northern Ireland during periods of direct rule by the UK government (and which continue to be used for matters that have not been devolved to the Assembly). They have their own ‘SR’ numbering sequence, separate from the UK (‘SI’) sequence.
Despite the name, Statutory Rules occur in the same three main types as Statutory Instruments (‘Orders’, ‘Regulations’ and ‘Rules’). There may also be other descriptions of Statutory Rules.

Church Instruments

These are instruments made by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York under authority contained in Church Measures. They are sometimes also referred to in annotations to the revised legislation as ‘Archbishops’ Instruments’, and are used almost exclusively for the purpose of bringing Church Measures into force.

Bye-Laws

There is one other type of secondary legislation: bye-laws. This is legislation delegated to bodies such as local authorities, operators of transport systems or public utilities. The application of bye-laws is usually limited to a particular local area or the operations of a specific public body.

Legislation on legislation.gov.uk

See legislation.gov.uk/understanding-legislation for details of legislation held on the website.

Most types of primary legislation (e.g. Acts, Measures, N.I. Orders in Council) are held in 'revised' form, as well as selected secondary legislation, and legislation originating from the EU. This means that amendments made to legislation by subsequent legislation are incorporated into the text.

A list of types of legislation held in revised form on the website is available here.

See EU Legislation and UK Law for more information on revised legislation originating from the EU.


Useful Resources

See the government Guide to Making Legislation.

See the OPC Drafting Guidance.

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