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Andrew Taylor› Academic Services Librarian Faculty of Business, Law and Criminology

Secondary legislation (also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) is law made by a person or body other than Parliament—usually government ministers or other authorised bodies—under powers delegated to them by an Act of Parliament (known as the 'parent Act' or 'enabling Act'). Secondary legislation typically takes the form of Statutory Instruments (SIs), which include orders, rules, and regulations. Approximately 3,500 statutory instruments are made each year in the UK, though only around 1,000 require parliamentary consideration. Once made, these instruments carry the same legal force as Acts of Parliament.

For more information about secondary legislation, please read 'What is secondary legislation?'

Secondary Legislation in Westlaw UK

You can access secondary legislation using Westlaw UK. If you are unsure how to access Westlaw UK, please see 'How do I access Westlaw?'

From the Westlaw UK homepage, select 'Legislation' from the top navigation toolbar, then choose 'Legislation Search'.​

Select the Primary & Secondary Legislation tab. The search page opens with three tabs—select 'Primary & Secondary Legislation' (this is the default tab).​

You can then search by title or number in the 'Title' field. An SI number will typically be formatted like this '2006/1096'.

You can also search using 'Free Text' terms to search across the entire content of legislation​.

Clicking 'More options' allows you to access advanced search fields, including searching by Subject/Keyword.

Click 'Search' to view the results. You will then see a list of the titles of relevant legislation. Click on the title to view the full text of the Statutory Instrument. 

The Enabling Act

When you view a Statutory Instrument in Westlaw UK, the 'Provision Details' section links to the section(s) of the enabling Act. Similarly, when you view the enabling Act, you can view all Statutory Instruments made under the Act in the 'Provisions' section. These are listed under the heading 'SIs Made Under Act'.

Please contact me if you need any support accessing Statutory Instruments. 

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