Structure

• Acts of Parliament are presented in a specific format.

Short Title

• short title including publication date
• normal way to describe a Statute
• may be abbreviated, for example Human Rights Act 1998 becomes HRA 1998

Citation

• official citation is the number given to each Act passed in a year
• called the chapter number

Long title

• long title gives a concise explanation of the aims of the Act

Royal Assent

• Royal Assent is indicated by date that assent was given
• Act will commence on this date unless otherwise specified

Enacting Formula

• standard form of words to indicate that an Act has been properly passed by all parts of legislature

Sections, Subsections, Paragraphs and Parts

• main body of the statute is divided up into numbered sections, sub-divided into subsections, paragraphs and sub-paragraphs
• longer statutes: sections may be further grouped into parts

Marginal Notes

• each section may have short marginal notes to explain contents
• not part of the Act so no direct legal effect
• since 2001, marginal notes now appear in bold type as headings to each section

Headings

• headings are considered part of the statute
• but are but are of little use as an aid to interpretation and more of a navigation tool

Commencement Date

• commencement section is usually found towards the end of an Act

Schedules

• found at the end of an Act
• can provide contain details of amendments to previous legislation or further details and definitions
• schedules may be divided into paragraphs

Preambles

• old Acts contain a preamble which explain the purpose of an Act

Annotated Statute Example