Historical Records
At the end of a medieval Parliament of England a collection of Acts of a public character was made in the form of a Statute Roll and given the title of the King’s regnal year; each particular Act forming a section, or a chapter, of the complete Statute, so that, e.g. the Vagabonds Act 1383 became VII Ric. II, c.5. Enrolment of Public Acts on manuscript parchment "Parliament Rolls" continued until 1850. The longest Act of Parliament in the form of a scroll is an Act regarding taxation passed in 1821. It is nearly a quarter of a mile (348m) long, and used to take two men a whole day to rewind. Until 1850, a paper draft was brought into the House in which the Bill started; after the committee stage there the Bill was inscribed on a parchment roll and this parchment was then passed to the other House which could introduce amendments. The original Bill was never re-written and knives were used to scrape away the script from the top surface of the rolls, before new text was added. Since 1850 two copies of each Act were printed on vellum, one for preservation in the House of Lords and the other for transmission to the Public Record Office.
Since 1483 annual volumes of Public Acts ("Statute Books") have been printed. In these volumes not only Public Acts but also some Private Acts and various "Local and Personal Acts declared Public" have been included.
All UK Acts of Parliament since 1497 are kept in the House of Lords Record Office, including the oldest Act: The "Taking of Apprentices for Worsteads in the County of Norfolk" Act 1497, a reference to the wool worsted manufacture at Worstead in Norfolk, England.
Acts passed before 1 January 1963 are cited by session and chapter. The session of parliament in which the Act was passed is referred to by the regnal year or years of the reigning Monarch and his name, which is usually abbreviated. So, for example, the Treason Act 1945 may be cited:
| Regnal year or years | Monarch | Abbreviation of "chapter" | Chapter number |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 & 9 | Geo 6 | c | 44 |
All Acts passed on or after 1 January 1963 are cited by calendar year and chapter.
All recent Acts have a short title, or citation (e.g. Local Government Act 2003, National Health Service Act 1974).
Many Acts of a private, personal or local character often have not ever been printed, surviving only in a single manuscript copy in the Victoria Tower.
Read more about this topic: Acts Of Parliament In The United Kingdom
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