Electronic sources of Scottish legislation an overview David

Electronic sources of Scottish legislation: an overview David R. Hart University of Dundee

Legislation Primary legislation Secondary (or delegated) legislation

Primary legislation Public General Acts Local and Personal Acts of the Scottish Parliament

Secondary legislation Statutory Instruments Scottish Statutory Instruments Statutory Codes of Practice Byelaws

1 st July 1999 Westminster and Holyrood

Acts (statutes) from Westminster Sunday Working (Scotland) Act 2003 c. 18

Acts (statutes) from Westminster Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 c. 28

Acts (statutes) from Holyrood Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 asp 13

How will I recognise delegated legislation? Trigger words in the titles of statutory instruments • Regulations • Rules • Order • Scheme

Delegated legislation from Westminster Guaranteed Minimum Pensions Increase Order 2005 SI 2005/521

Delegated legislation from Westminster Insolvency (Scotland) Regulations 2003 SI 2003/2109

Delegated legislation from Holyrood Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 SSI 2005/348

Issues to consider • Is this legislation in force? (commencement) • Has it been amended? • Has it been repealed/revoked?

Sources of legislation Official Public General Acts Statutes in Force Statutory Instruments Acts of the Scottish Parliament Scottish Statutory Instruments Unofficial Current Law Statutes Halsbury’s Statutory Instruments

Electronic sources of legislation Official Office of Public Sector Information Office of the Queen’s Printer for Scotland Unofficial BAILII Justis Lawtel Lexis. Nexis Westlaw

Office of Public Sector Information www. opsi. gov. uk Public General Acts Statutory Instruments Acts of the Scottish Parliament Scottish Statutory Instruments 1988 1987 1999 – As enacted or made

Office of Public Sector Information Statute Law Database “For many years, the DCA and before it the Lord Chancellor's Department gave firm predictions that the database would be publicly available 12 months from whatever date they were stating that on. ” Jonathan Mitchell QC

Office of Public Sector Information Statute Law Database Public General Acts in force on 1 st February 1991 Statutory Instruments 1991 Acts of the Scottish Parliament 1999 Scottish Statutory Instruments 1999 –

Office of Public Sector Information Statute Law Database • Amendments will be incorporated in Acts • Secondary legislation as printed • Point-in-time access

BAILII British and Irish Legal Information Institute www. bailii. org “Public legal information is digital common property and should be accessible to all on a non-profit basis and free of charge” [Declaration on Free Access to Law]

BAILII Public General Acts Statutory Instruments Acts of the Scottish Parliament Scottish Statutory Instruments 1988 2002 1999 – As enacted or made

Justis www. justis. com English/UK Acts of the Scottish Parliament 1235 1999 - As enacted but with links to amended and amending legislation

Justis Statutory Instruments Scottish Statutory Instruments 19871999 - plus Archive 1671 -1986 As made

Lawtel www. lawtel. com UK Legislation Service 1984 - • Digest only • Covers Westminster and Holyrood • Links to OPSI website

Lexis. Nexis Butterworths www. lexisnexis. co. uk Lexis. Nexis Professional and Lexis. Nexis Butterworths • Full amended text of all Public General Acts currently in force in England & Wales • Only those provisions of Westminster Acts relating to Scotland which affect England & Wales are included

Lexis. Nexis Butterworths Lexis. Nexis Professional and Lexis. Nexis Butterworths • Full coverage of Scottish Parliament

Lexis. Nexis Butterworths Lexis. Nexis Professional Lexis. Nexis Butterworths Statutes of England & Wales Statutory Instruments of England & Wales UK Parliament Acts UK Parliament SIs Statutes of Scotland Statutory Instruments of Scotland Scottish Parliament Acts Scottish Parliament SIs

Westlaw www. westlaw. co. uk • Full amended text of all Public General Acts • Full amended text of all Statutory Instruments • Full coverage of Scottish legislation from both Westminster and Holyrood

Westlaw • Versions • Historic law • In Force Date: February 1, 1991

Other developments • Scottish Parliament Project www. st-andrews. ac. uk/~scotparl/ • National Archives of Scotland www. nas. gov. uk

A maiden’s prayer

Considerations • • Is it comprehensive? Is it current? Is it authoritative/reliable? Are amendments incorporated or simply noted? Does it function as an archive? Do we just need legislation or a total package? Is it easy to use? How much are we prepared to spend?

Asking for the moon?