LibGuides: Law: Legislation

Finding legislation

The best places for up to date UK and EU legislation are Westlaw and LexisLibrary which both include primary and secondary legislation. Try both to see which one you prefer. You can also find legislation freely online but sites such as legislation.gov.uk are not updated as often so may not include the most recent version of legislation.

Finding UK and EU legislation online from the legal databases

Westlaw
Lexis+ UK

Westlaw This link opens in a new window
An extensive source of information on American and UK law, including UK case law, UK legislation, Legal Journals Index and full text journals.
Please select De Montfort University from the Westlaw sign in screen. You will then be asked to enter your DMU Single Sign On credentials. You will also be asked to enter additional personal information when you log into Westlaw for the first time, including an email account. This is a one-time action.

Finding legislation This video provides an overview of finding and using legislation on Westlaw UK.
Westlaw UK User Guide: Legislation Guide to finding, viewing and comparing legislation

Lexis+ UK This link opens in a new window
An online legal research service including case law, legislation and commentary materials. Also provides access to a wide range of full-text local and national newspapers.

Please note: LexisNexis terms and conditions do not permit the uploading of Lexis content into third party applications, including artificial intelligence technologies such as large language models and generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT, Bing, Google Bard and Harvey).

Primary legislation

Primary legislation includes Acts of Parliament (also called Statutes). Around 50 to 70 Acts of Parliament are passed every year. They start as bills and become law after passing through both the House of Parliament and House of Lords, and receiving Royal Assent.

For more information on the process by which legislation is passed, you can listen to 'How Statute Law is Made', a podcast of the lecture given by Stephen Laws at the University of Oxford in October 2010.

Secondary legislation

Most secondary legislation (also called delegated legislation) is in the form of Statutory Instruments (SIs) which are rules, regulations and orders made under the authority of an Act of Parliament.

For more information on Statutory Instruments, you can read the 'Delegated legislation' guide from the House of Commons Information Office.

International Legislation

Westlaw This link opens in a new window
To access Legislation from other jurisdictions on Westlaw, login to Westlaw and select 'Westlaw International' or 'Westlaw US' under 'More resources' below the search box. Westlaw International include Legislation from a number of countries but is especially strong on US Leglslation.
Please select De Montfort University from the Westlaw sign in screen. You will then be asked to enter your DMU Single Sign On credentials. You will also be asked to enter additional personal information when you log into Westlaw for the first time, including an email account. This is a one-time action.

International and US materials on Westlaw
A guide to accessing Westlaw’s International and US materials

WorldLII
The World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII) is a free, independent and non-profit global legal research facility. It provides links law-related web sites in every country in the world. You can search WordLII by type of materials and by Country.

Finding UK and EU legislation online for free

You can find EU legislation from:

legislation.gov.uk This link opens in a new window
Free government website including both original (as enacted) and revised versions of legislation. Note that this is not updated as frequently as either Lexis Library or Westlaw

BAILII: legislation search
Includes legislation for the UK, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and
Ireland as passed.

Eur-Lex This link opens in a new window
You can search for EU legislation from Europa legislation search page.

Law: Legislation