General Legislation-related references
Affirmative procedure: A type of Parliamentary procedure that applies to statutory instruments (SIs) and describes the form of scrutiny that the SI received from Parliament. Both Houses of Parliament must actively approve an SI laid under the affirmative procedure before it can become law.
Chapter: A grouping of Sections under a subheading within a Part of an Act.
Section: The basic unit of an Act, divided into subsections, then paragraphs, then sub-paragraphs.
Commencement: The coming into effect of legislation. In the absence of a commencement provision, the Act comes into force from the beginning of the day on which Royal Assent was given (at midnight).
Delegated legislation: Legal instruments (including regulations and orders) made under powers delegated to Ministers or other office holders in Acts of Parliament. They have the force of law but can be disapplied by a court if they do not comply with the terms of their parent Act. Also called subordinate or secondary legislation.
Negative procedure: An SI laid under the negative procedure becomes law on the day the Minister signs it (when it is made) and remains law unless a motion, or ‘prayer’, to reject it is agreed by either House within 40 sitting days.
Part: A grouping of Sections under a heading in the body of a Act. Also, a subdivision of a Schedule.
Regulations: A form of subordinate legislation made by the government under the authority of Acts of Parliament.
Retained EU law: The EUWA converts the body of directly applicable EU law that was operative immediately before the end of the implementation period into domestic law and preserves the body of laws we made in the UK to implement our EU obligations as they applied up to the end of the implementation period. "Retained EU law" refers to the overall body of laws converted or preserved by the EUWA in this way.
Retrospective effect: A provision is retrospective if either it takes effect from a date before it comes into force, or it takes effect from the date that it comes into force – i.e. it is formally prospective – but it changes the previously definite and predictable consequences of past transactions, actions or events in a way which could not have been reasonably expected by those who are affected.
Royal Assent: The Sovereign’s agreement to an Act. The final stage in the legislative process and the moment a bill becomes an Act, subject to any specified provisions in the Act for the commencement of its operation.
Schedule: Acts may have Schedules that appear after the main Sections in the text. They are often used to spell out in more detail how the provisions of the Act are to work in practice.
Statutory instrument or SI: Statutory instruments contain delegated (or secondary) legislation. They can be used to make specific changes to the law under powers from an existing Act of Parliament, without Parliament having to pass a new Act.
Transition Period: The implementation period provided for by Part 4 of the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU, beginning with the UK’s departure from the EU on 31 January 2020 and ending on 31 December 2020.