Research Guides: Foreign government information: Bills & Legislation

Bills & legislation

Bills are drafts of acts to be considered by Parliament
Public bills deal with general issues and Private bills are relating to local or personal legislation like divorce, etc.
Bills introduced in the House of Commons are cited as HC while HL are for bills introduced in the House of Lords
A bill becomes act when it is passed by both Houses and given royal assent
Statutory Instruments are official Parliamentary orders, notices and regulations served under particular Acts

Parliamentary Papers (Sessional Papers)
- Bills considered by the House of Commons are included in the House of Commons Sessional papers
- Bills considered by the House of Lords are included in the House of Lords' Sessional papers
- Includes Private and Local Bills and Acts (1695 - 1834)
Bills and Legislation (UK Parliament)
- Full text of bills from 2002/03 session
House of Commons Weekly Information Bulletin
- UK1..XL..10..H51....ENG
- Traces the progress of a recent bill

UK Statutes
- University of Toronto only
- A fully-searchable database of:
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
- UK legislation (1267 - present)
- The official revised edition of the primary legislation of the United Kingdom
Public General Statutes - Great Britain
- UK1..YX..21..S21....ENG
- This record includes the following titles:
Statutes: Second Revised Edition - Great Britain
- UK1 ...YX..41Y6S77....ENG
- 1887-1900
Statutes: Third Revised Edition - Great Britain
- UK1..YX..4148S77....ENG
- 1235-1948
UK Legislation (Office of Public Sector Information)
- All Public Acts, 1988+
- Some Public Acts, 1837-1987
- Statutory Instruments and local laws, 1987+

Statutory Instruments are official Parliamentary orders, notices and regulations served under particular Acts.

UK Statutory Instruments
- University of Toronto only
- Statutory Instruments from 1949 to present
- The legislation published in Statutory Rules & Orders and Statutory Instruments Revised to December 31, 1948, which was published by HMSO in 1950 and includes regulations dating back as far as 1671
- Statutory Rules and Orders issued prior to 1987
Statutory Rules and Orders and Statutory Instruments Revised to December 31, 1948 - Great Britain
- Arranged alphabetically by the titles of the Statutes and the Statutory Rules and Orders and Statutory Instruments
- The last volume contains a numerical list of Instruments issued between 1894 to 1948
Statutory Instruments - Great Britain
- UK1..YX.100..S73....ENG
- 1949+
Statutory Instruments