Glossary
Where a term defined below begins with a capital letter, this indicates that the term usually begins with a capital letter when it is used in legislation or in annotations, whether or not it appears as the first word of a sentence.
| Act | A law enacted by a parliament or similar legislative body. In the UK, Acts may be made by the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament or the Northern Ireland Assembly. Historically, Acts were also made by the parliaments that met before the UK came into existence and by the Parliament of Northern Ireland (1921 to 1972).
Acts are a form of primary legislation. |
| affected provision | A provision (e.g. a section) subject to one or more changes or effects. |
| amendment | An effect that changes the text of legislation. The term ‘amended’ is also sometimes used on legislation.gov.uk to indicate an effect that changes the meaning of the legislation even though the text itself is not changed. |
| amendment to earlier affecting provision | An “amendment to earlier affecting provision” effect is recorded where there is an amendment to a provision that is itself an affecting provision, which has implication for the “earlier” amendment made by that affecting provision. Further details about the identification and recording of these effects can be found here:
Editorial Principles - Amendments to earlier affecting provisions Identify Effects - Marking up knock-on effects and amendments to earlier affecting provisions Record Effects - Amendments to earlier affecting provisions If an amendment is be made to the commencement, extent, savings or transitional provisions of an earlier affecting document, we need to consider the implications of this amendment, as we may need to carry out a TOES correction of the original effect and add an appended commentary. |
| annotation | A note that appears at the foot of a provision (or under the associated heading if relating to a higher-level division) and which gives authority for an effect or extra information about the provision in general or a specific part of that provision.
Each annotation has a reference number and the nature of the information it contains is conveyed by the annotation type. For instance, F-notes identify amendments where there is authority to change the text, and I-notes contain information about the coming into force of a provision. For more information on annotations in Editorial Update, see Editorial Update - Annotation Conventions. |
| Arabic numerals in pre-2001 Acts | Since 2001, Arabic numerals have been used by drafters for Parts and Chapters of Acts and for Parts of Schedules. Arabic numbers are used by used by drafters when referring to Parts and Chapters of pre-2001 Acts and Parts of Schedules to such Acts, even though the original Act will have used Roman numerals. When drafters insert or substitute text in a pre-2001 Act, they will use Arabic numerals even if that leads to a mixture of Arabic and Roman in the text of the Act.
We use Arabic numerals for all Parts and Chapters within our update annotations. |
| basedate | The term we use for the starting point from which the revision of legislation on legislation.gov.uk (and previously on the UK Statute Law Database) has been carried forward. It is the date to which the text of the earlier hard copy editions had been revised when used as the originating text for the electronic version.
For most types of revised legislation on legislation.gov.uk, the basedate is 1 February 1991. The originating text for most types of legislation was derived mainly from ‘Statutes in Force’ (SIF), an earlier official edition of the revised statute book. The final revision of SIF incorporated all effects of legislation made or enacted up to 1 February 1991, but the effects of a small number of consolidation Acts enacted after the basedate, in 1991 and 1992, were also incorporated. For the revised legislation of Northern Ireland on legislation.gov.uk, the basedate is 1 January 2006. The originating text for this legislation was ‘The Northern Ireland Statutes Revised’, the official edition of the revised statute book for Northern Ireland. The final revision of that text incorporated all effects of legislation made or enacted up to 31 December 2005. |
| blanket amendment | An effect that is framed in such a way as to affect legislation generally rather than any specific enactment.
What is a blanket amendment? See Editorial Principles - Blanket Amendments How do I mark up blanket amendments? See Identify Effects - Marking up blanket amendments How do I record a blanket amendment? See Record Effects - Vigilance when dealing with EU Exit legislation - Blanket Amendments and Blanket amendments to unspecified secondary legislation made under specified enabling provisions How do I apply a blanket amendment in Editorial Update? Editorial Update - Blanket Amendments |
| C-notes - Modifications etc (not altering text) | ‘C’ stands for ‘Cross-notes’, so called because of the way in which they were presented in the hard copy predecessors to the revised content on legislation.gov.uk. This annotation type is used to denote the effect when the meaning, scope or application of an item of legislation or provision etc. is changed in some way, but without there being any authority to alter the text. Typical expressions of effects of this kind are ‘modified’, ‘applied’, ‘excluded’, ‘extended’, ‘restricted’, etc. |
| changes | The terms ‘changes’ and ‘changes to legislation’ are sometimes used on this site instead of the term ‘effects’. |
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| Church Instrument | A type of secondary legislation made by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York under authority contained in Church Measures. |
| “coming into force” date | The date on which a legislative provision or an effect comes into force. Also known as the commencement date. |
| commencement | The coming into force of a provision or an effect.
The commencement of an item of legislation may be determined by a provision of the legislation itself, referred to as the ‘commencement provision', or it may be determined by a special type of Statutory Instrument known as a ‘Commencement Order’. |
| confers power | This term is used where a provision confers power to make secondary legislation. |
| cross-heading | In primary legislation, an italic heading that indicates the subject matter of a provision or group of provisions beneath it. In the hierarchical structure of legislation, it comes below Part or Chapter level but above the level of the lowest level of provision, such as the section in an Act.
It is called a cross-heading because it is usually centred, running across the page. However, in the new style of drafting adopted for most primary legislation since 2001, cross-headings in Schedules (but not in the main body) are ranged left. Note that in secondary legislation there are elements called cross-headings that may appear differently to those in primary legislation and do not necessarily serve the same function. For details of the headings used in secondary legislation, see the guidance in Statutory Instrument Practice. |
| dc:title | The top title of an item of legislation, which is the title displayed above the top menu bar of an item of legislation on the website, is contained within the dc:title element, which is part of the metadata and we are unable to edit this ourselves, however, changes we make to the legislation title should automatically be carried though into the dc:title. |
| division | A term we use to denote any one of the hierarchical levels into which an item of legislation may be divided.
For instance, the two main divisions of an Act are the main body and the schedules, and these are preceded by the long title, the short title and any other introductory text. Lower levels of division within the main body and schedules may include Parts, Chapters and cross-headings. The lowest levels of division in an Act are sections (in the main body) or paragraphs (in the schedules). For further information see Structure of Legislation. |
| drafters footnotes | A drafters footnote is a footnote that was included in the original/as enacted/made version of an item of legislation by the drafter of the legislation (as opposed to editorial footnotes that we add – i.e. F-notes, C-notes, I-notes, P-notes, E-notes and X-notes).
In primary legislation, these used to be included as marginal citations by the drafters, which are presented as M-notes on the website:
Nowadays, M-notes are no longer used in primary legislation. The document year and chapter number is now represented in brackets within the text. In secondary legislation, drafters footnote references are usually included as a number in brackets within the text of a provision, and link to the footnote text at the bottom of the provision:
Similar drafters footnote references also appear in Retained EU Legislation (which the drafters may refer to as “endnotes”):
Due to the way that these footnotes are held in the data, we are unable to edit them directly, but we can convert them to M-notes in order to be able to apply amendments to them, if they do get amended. Note that some drafters footnote references in secondary legislation (that were deployed from SLD prior to the start of 2020) are presented as M-notes (because they originally appeared as F-notes and were converted to M-notes so that they could be distinguished from the rest of the textual amendment F-notes):
Guidance on drafters footnotes in Editorial Update: Specific Update Issues - Drafters footnotes also Specific Update Issues - Remove drafters footnotes in amending text Retained EU Legislation Update - Other drafters footnotes Guidance on drafters footnotes in Secondary Effects Research: |
| E-notes – Geographical Extent information | This annotation type contains information about the geographic extent of the item of legislation or relevant part of it.
E-notes are at present used very sparingly, mainly to indicate some complexity or change in the extent which is not adequately reflected in the extent provision of the item of legislation (although they have been used more extensively in the past). They are also used where there are multiple versions of a provision created for different geographical extents. |
| effect | Any impact that one legislative provision may have on another. The most familiar type of effect is an amendment that changes the text of the affected legislation, but there are also types of effect that do not change the text, such as where a provision is said to be ‘modified’ or ‘applied’. Other events, such as the commencement of a provision, are also treated as effects for the purposes of legislation.gov.uk.
Note that an item of legislation, such as an Act, may contain internal effects. For example, a provision in an Act may modify or apply some other provision in the same Act. These internal effects are not generally annotated. The main exception is where an item of legislation amends its own text, which may happen, for example, when an item of legislation repeals itself, or part of itself, at some future date. Also, certain internal effects to do with commencement and extent may be recorded. |
| exit day | See IP completion day. |
| IP completion day | The Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU set out the arrangements for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU at 11.00 p.m. on 31 January 2020 (“exit day”), which included a transition or implementation period, during which EU law continued to apply in the UK. The implementation period, which was given effect in UK law by section 1 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (c. 1), expired at 11.00 p.m. on 31 December 2020 ("IP completion day"), as set out in section 39 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (c. 1). |
| EU Exit SI | Subordinate legislation which deals with the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, largely made by powers contained in the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16) and European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (c. 1). EU Exit SIs amend UK legislation and retained EU law to make sure that this legislation functions on IP completion day (31.12.2020). |
| Executive Note | An Executive Note sets out a brief statement of the purpose of a Scottish Statutory Instrument and provides information about its policy objective and policy implications. It aims to make the Scottish Statutory Instrument accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. ENs accompany any Scottish Statutory Instrument or Draft Scottish Statutory Instrument laid before the Scottish Parliament from July 2005 onwards. |
| exercise of power | This expression may be used in annotations in a provision that confers power to make secondary (or subordinate) legislation to record the making of instruments under that power. |
| Explanatory Note | Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the item of legislation to explain what the item of legislation sets out to achieve and to make the item of legislation accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts. |
| Explanatory Memorandum | An Explanatory Memorandum sets out a brief statement of the purpose of a Statutory Instrument or a Northern Ireland Order in Council and provides information about its policy objective and policy implications. It aims to make the Statutory Instruments or Orders accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. EMs accompany any Statutory Instrument or Draft Statutory Instrument laid before Parliament from June 2004 onwards and any Statutory Rule laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly (or UK Parliament during the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly) since June 2004. |
| F-notes - Amendments (Textual) | ‘F’ stands for ‘Footnotes’. This annotation type is used for amendments, including repeals, where there is authority to change the text. |
| geographical extent | The geographical area within the UK to which legislation applies.
Each extent is represented by one of, or a combination of, England (E), Wales (W), Scotland (S) and Northern Ireland (NI). Thus, a UK extent is E+W+S+NI and a GB extent is E+W+S. This information can be displayed within revised legislation when it is being viewed by selecting ‘show geographical extent’ in the left-hand column. Every version of every provision, and every higher level of division, within an item of legislation is assigned its own extent. In the case of higher levels of divisions the extent will be set wide enough to include the extent of all the provisions within it. In some limited cases there may be multiple versions created to represent differing geographical extents (previously referred to as concurrent versions of the Statue Law Database). Two or more versions of a provision (or other level of division of legislation) will be created where a substitution of text (or of the whole provision etc.) affects only part of the original geographical extent of the provision. Such versions have the same start date and continue to run alongside one another. For instance, if there is a substitution of text in a provision that extends to the whole of the UK, but the substitution affects Wales only, two versions result: one for the provision in its unamended state to cover England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and one for the provision as amended to cover Wales. |
| hierarchy | ‘Hierarchy’ and ‘hierarchical structure’ are terms we use to denote the levels of division within an item of legislation on legislation.gov.uk and the relationship between them. For example, the level of a cross-heading in an Act comes below the Part level in the hierarchy, but above the section level. |
| I-notes - Commencement information | ‘I’ stands for ‘In-force’. This annotation type contains information about the coming into force of a provision and will typically state whether it is partly or wholly in force, give the date or dates of commencement and cite relevant provisions of the item of legislation and any commencing instruments.
At present, I-notes are used only if there is some complexity in the commencement. If the provision came into force on one day for all purposes, no I-note will be created and the in-force date will be the same as the start date of the earliest version of the provision. |
| insertion | Describes a specific type of amendment that one item of legislation has on another i.e. where new text is inserted into existing text. If the new text is to be placed at the end of the existing text, the term ‘added’ may be used instead. |
| introductory text | A term we use to denote the text elements at the top of an item of legislation, below the title (or short title) but above the main body. In an Act, this will typically consist of the long title, the date the Act received the Royal Assent, and a conventional form of words to give effect to the Act called the ‘words of enactment’. |
| Knock-on | We use this term to describe an effect which occurs when an effect by legislation A on legislation B gives rise to a further effect on a third item of legislation, C. Further details about the identification and recording of these effects can be found here:
Editorial Principles - Knock-on effects Identify Effects - How to mark up a knock-on effect Record Effects - Knock-on effects |
| Latest available (revised): | The latest available revised version of the legislation incorporating changes (i.e. amendments and other effects) made by subsequent legislation and applied by the legislation.gov.uk editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text can be found listed under ‘Changes to Legislation’. |
| legislation | The generic term for laws of any type. The terms ‘piece of legislation’ and ‘item of legislation’ are used within some of our help information to mean a whole legislative document of any type, for example an Act or Statutory Instrument. |
| long title | Acts and Measures have two titles, the ‘short title’ and the ‘long title’. The ‘long title’ sets out the purposes of the Act, sometimes at great length, whereas the ‘short title’ is a more convenient short form by which the Act will usually be known. For example, the Petroleum Act 1998 (short title) has a long title that reads:
‘An Act to consolidate certain enactments about petroleum, offshore installations and submarine pipelines.’ On legislation.gov.uk, the long title forms part of the introductory text of the legislation. |
| M-notes - Marginal citations | This annotation type is so called because it used to appear in the margin of the King’s Printer’s copy of primary legislation. M-notes recite the year and number of an Act or instrument mentioned in the text. |
| "made" date | The date on which a Statutory Instrument, or other item of secondary legislation, is formally brought into being. It may come into force at a different date. Secondary legislation is usually said to be ‘made’, as opposed to Acts and other primary legislation which are usually said to be ‘enacted’. For this reason, the phrase ‘made or enacted’ may be used on this site when referring to legislation generally. |
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| Order in Council | A type of legislation, made by the King on the advice of the Privy Council (a body consisting of Ministers of the Crown). These Orders may be made under powers contained in statute, in which case they take the form of Statutory Instruments, notably those to legislate for Northern Ireland during periods of direct rule. (Note, however, that many Orders in Council are made under the residual prerogative of the Crown. These are known as ‘Prerogative Orders’ and are not carried on legislation.gov.uk.). |
| Order of Council | Such Orders differ from Orders in Council in that they are made by the Privy Council without the need for any approval by the King. Otherwise, similar considerations apply. They may be made under statutory powers (as Statutory Instruments) or under the prerogative, and in the latter case they are not carried on legislation.gov.uk. |
| Original (As enacted or as made): | The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text. |
| P-notes - Subordinate legislation made | ‘P’ stands for ‘Power exercised’. Where a provision of primary legislation confers power to make subordinate legislation and that power is exercised (i.e. an instrument is made in pursuance of it), that exercise may be recorded in a P-note. The annotation will cite any instruments made under that power.
At present, the P-note annotation type is used only in respect of the making of commencement orders (distinguished by a ‘C’ series number after the number of the instrument) or other exercises of a power to appoint a day. |
| paragraph | A provision, usually numbered, constituting on legislation.gov.uk the lowest level of division in a Schedule. (But note that the term ‘paragraph’ may also be used in legislation to denote certain levels of sub-division within a provision.) |
| Part | A division of the main body or a schedule in an item of legislation, usually forming part of a numbered sequence of Parts.
A Part may be further subdivided hierarchically into Chapters, cross-headings and numbered sections (or paragraphs, if in a schedule). |
| Policy Note | Policy Notes replaced Executive Notes in relation to Scottish Statutory Instruments during July 2012, and serve the same purpose. |
| power | Generally used on legislation.gov.uk to mean a power to make secondary (or subordinate) legislation contained in a provision that ‘confers power’. The making of an item of secondary legislation in pursuance of such a power is referred to as an ‘exercise of power’. |
| preamble | Words appearing near the beginning of an Act after the long title, stating the reasons for passing the Act. The use of preambles is optional and they are now rare. Any preamble would appear in the introductory text. |
| primary legislation | General term used to describe the main laws passed by the legislative bodies of the UK (e.g. an Act of the UK Parliament). It is to be distinguished from secondary legislation. |
| prospective | A term we use to indicate that a provision or an amendment has not yet come into force. |
| prospective version | A version of a provision (or other level of division of legislation) with no start date, created as a result of an amendment that has not yet come into force. |
| provision | The term provision is used to describe a definable element in an item of legislation that has legislative effect. Most commonly in the help documentation and messages on this site it will be used to refer to a section (or corresponding element such as a paragraph in a Schedule or an article in an Order) but it can also refer to higher level divisions such as Parts or Chapters. |
| Regnal years | Regnal years refer to the year of the sovereign’s reign for the session of parliament in which the Act was passed and may be referenced when citing legislation made pre-1963. |
| repeal | Describes a specific type of amendment where existing text ceases to have effect and may also be removed from the legislation. Repeals may also relate to a whole item of legislation. The amending legislation may alternatively (or, in many cases, additionally) specify that words or provisions ‘shall be omitted’ or ‘shall cease to have effect’. (Where this last expression only is used, we do not treat this as authority to remove the text.) |
| repeals schedule | A schedule in an item of legislation, usually at the end, in which the legislative provisions repealed by that legislation are listed. |
| retained EU legislation | EU legislation which applied directly or indirectly to the UK before 11.00 p.m. on 31 December 2020 has been retained in UK law as a form of domestic legislation known as ‘retained EU legislation’. This is set out in sections 2 and 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16). Section 4 of the 2018 Act ensures that any remaining EU rights and obligations, including directly effective rights within EU treaties, continue to be recognised and available in domestic law after exit. For further details see https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eu-legislation-and-uk-law. |
| revised legislation | We use the terms ‘revise’, ‘revised’ and ‘revision’ to refer to the editorial process of incorporating amendments and carrying through other effects into legislation. |
| Roman numerals in pre-2001 Acts | See Arabic numerals in pre-2001 Acts. |
| Schedule | An item of legislation may have one or more schedules following the main body. Where this is the case, the Schedules (collectively) constitute a major structural division within the legislation. Within this higher level of division, there may be either a single Schedule or a series of numbered Schedules. (Note that the term 'schedule' is not usually spelt with a capital 'S' in Acts of the Scottish Parliament.) |
| Scottish Statutory Instrument | A type of secondary legislation made under authority contained in Acts of the Scottish Parliament. |
| secondary legislation | Delegated legislation, such as a Statutory Instrument, made by a person or body under authority contained in primary legislation. It is also referred to as ‘subordinate legislation’. |
| section | A provision, usually numbered, constituting on legislation.gov.uk the lowest level of division in the main body of an Act or other primary legislation. |
| short title | The title by which an Act or Measure is usually known. It is to be distinguished from the long title, which sets out the purposes of the legislation. |
| start date | The start date of a version is the earliest date for which it had effect to any extent or for any purpose. |
| statute | An item of primary legislation, such as an Act or Measure. |
| statute book | A term we use to denote the totality of the statute law in force at any particular time. |
| Statutory Instrument | A type of secondary legislation made under authority contained in Acts of Parliament. |
| Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland | A type of secondary legislation, they are the Northern Ireland equivalent of Statutory Instruments. |
| Stop Date | The date on which a version is succeeded by a new version or otherwise ceases to have effect. |
| subordinate legislation | See secondary legislation. |
| sub-provision | Any sub-division of a provision. |
| substitution | Describes a specific type of amendment where existing text is replaced by new text. |
| successive versions | A successive version of a provision (or higher level of division of legislation) is a new version that replaces an earlier version. A new version is created whenever the text is amended. |
| Timeline of Changes | Facility on legislation.gov.uk providing access to revised legislation as it stood at specific points in time. The dates displayed on the timeline of any given provision are based on the start date of the amendment or amendments that gave rise to a new version of the provision to be created at that date. The timeline can be used to navigate through the versions to see how the provision being viewed has changed over time or may change in the future. |
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| Wales Statutory Instrument | A type of Statutory Instrument relating specifically to Wales made under authority contained either in Acts of Parliament or in Measures of the National Assembly of Wales. |
| words of enactment | Formal words of legislative intent appearing at the beginning of an Act after the Long Title. Words of enactment appear in the introductory text. |
| X-notes - Editorial information | The X-note annotation type is used sparingly to alert users to anything they may need to be aware of in using the text. They have been used, for example, to explain potential difficulties arising from variations in pre-SLD editorial practice over the years or to point to uncertainties in the text of very old Acts. |
