It is crucial to work with the right version of the legislation. Options include:
Current legislation
- Up-to-date versions Acts / Regulations which are currently in force, i.e. what the law is now.
- Operative amendments are incorporated into the text of the legislation.
- Sometimes referred to as ‘consolidated Acts / Regulations’ or ‘current compilations’.
Legislation as made
- Legislation in its original form (e.g. as enacted by Parliament).
- Subsequent amendments are not consolidated into the text of the legislation.
- These may be used when you need to read an amendment, when you are researching very recent legislation or, conversely, if you are researching very old legislation that was not published in a consolidated form.
- Acts as made are also referred to as ‘numbered Acts’, ‘sessional Acts’, ‘Acts as passed’ or ‘Acts as enacted’. Regulations as made are also referred to as ‘numbered Regulations’.
Point-in-time Legislation
- Historical versions of Acts / Regulations, i.e. ‘as at’ a particular time in the past.
- These are often needed for court proceedings, i.e. the legislation in force at the time when the cause of action occurred.
- They may also be useful when researching how legislation has changed over time.
Repealed Legislation
- Acts / Regulations which are no longer in force.
- Repealed legislation may be needed for court proceedings, e.g. if the legislation was in force at the relevant time.
- It may also be required if you are tracing the development of the law over a period of time.
- Note that you may also need to find a version of a repealed Act / Regulations as it was at a particular time in the past (e.g. an Act that was repealed in 2000 as it was in 1995).
Last updated: 13 August 2014