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What is public law? Public bodies, such as central and local government, have to obey the law. The type of law governing the conduct of public bodies is known as ‘public law’. Public law should ensure that public bodies act lawfully, rationally, fairly, and compatibly with the human rights of those affected by their actions.
- Guides to Public Law
This page provides links to our popular introductory guides...
- How Can Public Law Help Me
If the Government has made a decision about your immigration...
- Guides to Public Law
- How Legislation Works
- Citation and Numbering
- Parliaments and Jurisdictions
- How Parliaments Have Changed and Created Different Legislation Types
- How Legislation Can Extend and Apply to Different Parts of The UK
- Associated Documents Published with Legislation
- How Legislation Comes Into Force and Is Amended
- What Legislation Is Held on Legislation.gov.uk
- Revised Legislation on Legislation.gov.uk
- Our Editorial Practice and Timescales
UK Primary and Secondary legislation
'Primary legislation' is the term used to describe the main laws passed by the legislative bodies of the UK e.g. Acts of the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Welsh Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly. It also includes Acts passed by historical parliaments, other primary legislation for Northern Ireland and Church of England Measures (legislation for the established church in England passed by the General Synod of the Church of England). These types of legislation are sometimes referre...
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.gov.uk does not publish bye-laws.
Case Law
Case law is the set of rulings from court judgements that set precedents for how the law has been interpreted and applied in certain cases. Case law is not held on legislation.gov.uk. Some case law can be found at Find caselaw.
Primary legislation (e.g. Acts) are numbered chronologically within the year in which they are enacted. The numbering re-starts each year. For UK Public General Acts (UKPGA) the number is referred to as a 'Chapter'. Acts are therefore, usually cited by their type, year and chapter number e.g. The Data Protection Act 2018 is cited as '2018 c.12'. Ac...
UK Parliament
Most of the Acts passed by the UK Parliament are 'Public General Acts'. These are Acts that deal with matters of general public interest. A small number of Acts are 'Private Acts'. These are further sub-divided into 'Local Acts' (which relate to matters of local interest) and 'Personal Acts' (which relate to particular persons, and are nowadays very rare). These two classes of Acts are numbered differently to Public General Acts. Public and General Acts passed by the UK Parliament provide law...
Scottish Parliament
The current Scottish Parliament was established in 1999 by the Scotland Act 1998 to debate issues and make laws for Scotland. The Scottish Parliament has power to make laws on a range of issues that are known as devolved matters. Some issues remain the responsibility of the UK Parliament alone. These are known as reserved matters. Further powers are transferred to the Scottish Parliament through the Scotland Act 2016 in areas such as taxation, welfare and elections. Your Scottish Parliamentis...
Welsh Parliament
The Welsh Parliament is the democratically elected body that represents the interests of Wales and its people. The Welsh Parliament makes laws for Wales on specific subject areas. Outside these areas, different bodies (like local authorities or the UK government) make laws that apply to Wales. Acts of Senedd Cymru (made from May 2020), as well as Acts of the National Assembly for Wales (made from 2011-2020) and Measures of the National Assembly for Wales (made from 2008 – 2011), are published...
UK
There are still many Acts in force that were enacted by the parliaments of the separate countries that co-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: 1. the English Parliament (which encompassed Wales) from 1267 to 1706 2. the Scottish Parliament from 1424 to 1707 3. the Parliament of Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) from 1707 to 1800 4. the Irish Parliament from 1495 to 1800.
Scotland
There are still Acts in force that were enacted by the Old Scottish Parliament from 1424 - 1707. These are referred to on this site as 'Acts of the Old Scottish Parliament' whereas acts passed by the current Scottish Parliament are referred to as 'Acts of the Scottish Parliament'. The history of the Scottish Parliament is explained in detail on the History section of the Scottish Parliament website.
Wales
The Government of Wales Act 2006 set out devolved power to make primary legislation in relation to matters set out in the Act to the National Assembly for Wales sitting in Cardiff. Initially, this legislation took the form of 'Measures' (but see 'Acts of the National Assembly for Wales' below). The Assembly had earlier been established by the Government of Wales Act 1998 with powers to legislate by means of secondary legislation in the form of Statutory Instruments. Following a referendum in...
The term 'Geographical Extent' is used to describe the geographical area within the UK to which a piece of legislation (or part/section of a piece of legislation) applies. The term 'extent' when used in legislation refers to the jurisdiction(s) for which it is law. Thus, the extent may be the whole of the UK or one or more of the three jurisdiction...
A variety of documents can be published alongside legislation. A selection of the most common documents are explained below:
An Act of Parliament creates a new law or changes an existing law. An Act is a Bill that has been approved by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords and been given Royal Assent by the Monarch. Taken together, Acts of Parliament make up what is known as Statute Law in the UK. An Act may come into force immediately, on a specific future dat...
Legislation.gov.uk carries most (but not all) types of legislation and their accompanying explanatory documents. For further details of how complete our data set is for each type, click on a legislation type from the Browse Legislation page and see the colour coded bar for each year. It also contains legislation originating from the European Union,...
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: 1. Public General Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament (1801 to date) 2. Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain (1707 – 1800) 3. Acts of the English Parliam...
Revising legislation on legislation.gov.uk involves amending the text of the legislation where appropriate and adding annotations containing information about effects on legislation, or other editorial information. We aim to present the revised text of legislation clearly and accurately without gloss or comment, giving authority for changes to the ...
Public Bills. Private Members' Bills. Private Bills. Hybrid Bills. How does a bill become a law? How does a Bill become an Act? Find out the stages a Bill goes through before it becomes law. Bill starting in the House of Commons. Bill starting in the House of Lords. What is an Act of Parliament?
1. BRIEFING . THE RULE OF LAW: WHAT IS IT, AND WHY DOES IT MATTER? December 2022 Lisa James and Jan van Zyl Smit . Summary. - The rule of law supports democratic functioning, protects rights, and provides the conditions necessary for economic stability and growth.
Introduction. Welcome to the Public law module guide. Public law is a fascinating and challenging subject area which will give you the chance to engage with fundamental issues affecting how law works in the context of democratic government in the United Kingdom.
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Public law refers to the relationship between individuals and the government. In the UK, public law is made up of constitutional/administrative law, tax law and criminal law. Why is public law important?
The official home of UK legislation, revised and as enacted 1267-present. This website is managed by The National Archives on behalf of HM Government. Publishing all UK legislation is a core part of the remit of His Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO), part of The National Archives, and the Office of the King's Printer for Scotland.
