This section of the Legal Research Manual highlights where to find historical and modern English legislation. Some resources for tracing amendments to English legislation are provided.
Researchers are encouraged to consult a more in-depth English legal research guide as needed.
Historical English legislation can be a useful resource for understanding the foundations of Canadian law. But, since there is a rich legislative history in England, finding and tracing historical statutes can be a bit complex.
Historical statutes were published in different series by different publishers, such as :
►See Access Points: Historical English Legislation (on this page) to learn where to find these volumes in our collection.
English legislation recently or currently in force can be found in several locations, including Legislation.gov.uk, BAILII, Westlaw, and Lexis.
►See Access Points: Current English Legislation (on this page) for these access point links.
In UK, Parliament can create legislation that can apply to the whole extent of the UK (England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland) or to one or more of the countries. As a result, you may need to determine where legislation applies.
To determine where legislation applies, you will need to read the statute. Each statute will have an extent statement which will indicate where it will apply.
►See Legislation.gov.uk for a more in-depth explanation on extent statements.
Tracing English legislation can be complex, but there are several resources that aim to make it easier.
►See the House of Common's Tracing Acts of Parliament fact sheet to learn more about how to trace English legislation.
The Library provides access to several of the resources that you may need, including:
Contact the Law Library for further assistance.
