The UK Statute Law Database
The UK Statute Law Database (SLD) is the official revised edition of the primary legislation of the United Kingdom made available online. For more information about SLD and what it contains see Help.
SLD made simple
view amended legislation as it has changed over time
the green "A" icon will reveal the "attributes" of the legislation (e.g. start date, extent) and let you move between versions
see how legislation will be affected by amendments not yet in force
the blue "P" icon indicates provisions, and versions of amended provisions, that have not yet been brought into force
see how legislation has been amended for different jurisdictions
the yellow "C" icon denotes provisions that have "concurrent versions" (e.g. one for England and Wales and another for Scotland)
navigate links between affecting and affected legislation
the purple arrow appears in affecting legislation against an amendment etc that has been applied and will take you to the affected legislation
search the text of legislation for words and phrases
when you complete a text search, the red star icon will appear in the results list to show you which provisions match your search criteria
You can find out more about these and other features of SLD in Help.
Messages
Welcome to SLD
The staff of the UK Statutory Publications Offices would like to welcome you to SLD. If you are new to SLD, you may find that the Help facility and the Frequently Asked Questions will help you to find your way around more quickly. We have now also added an Introduction to SLD in PDF format for new users and a Useful Links page.The content of SLD is available for viewing and private use free of charge, but please see the Crown Copyright notice for further information about re-use of the data.
New feature: You can now create your own Friendly URLs. We hope you will find this facility useful, for example for sending links to legislation on SLD.
Primary Legislation Latest
New 2008 primary legislation now available: UK Public General Acts Chapters 1 to 18; Acts of the Scottish Parliament asps 1 to 5; Measure of the National Assembly for Wales nawm 1; Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly Chapters 1 to 11; N.I. Orders in Council N.I. 1. and N.I. 2. Enacted but not yet available: N.I. Chapter 12. This will follow as soon as possible. For further information about recent legislation on SLD see New Legislation. [Message updated 3.10.2008]
Update Status of SLD
Work on bringing the text of SLD fully up to date is in progress. Please see Update Status of Legislation to find out how to determine the date to which your chosen legislation has been revised and how to obtain details of any effects that have not yet been applied to it.