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Public to get online access to UK law

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Kable

Published: 11 Jun 2004 12:10 BST

The Department for Constitutional Affairs is planning a new online database of UK primary and secondary legislation

An official of the DCA said on 9 June, 2004, that the launch is part of a change in which the department has become more "customer facing", rather than catering primarily for the judiciary.

Tony Hopkins, head of the Statutory Publications Office at the DCA, announced the provision of a new editorial system that would be used to maintain an electronic database of the UK Statute Book.

"Creation of an up-to-date electronic database of UK Statute Law is an important milestone for this project," he said. "The new editorial system provides us with a platform that will allow us to continue with the update programme, and assist with the development of an enquiry facility, by the end of this year, for those in the government service.

"Giving the public access to consolidated legislation is also a prime business objective, and it is planned to make an Internet-based service available during spring of next year."

He said there are proposals for the development of two enquiry databases: one for government employees operating through the Government Secure Intranet; the other for the public through the Web site.

The former will include prospective legislation that has been passed by Parliament but not yet come into force. It will not include draft bills still going through the legislative process.

"It's not just the lawyers who will need access, but the whole supporting structure of government," Hopkins said.

Both databases will cover all of the UK, taking in legislation from the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies.

There are plans to include some value added features such as historical data. Search facilities -- responding to subjects, short titles and text strings -- will make it possible to trace versions of primary legislation going back to 1991. Hopkins said this could be particularly significant for anyone dealing with the Inland Revenue, which can collect taxes from earnings of several years before.

"I see it as a research tool for anyone who needs access to primary and secondary legislation," he said.

The DCA is using TSO's ActiveText content management system to publish the 27,000 pieces of primary and secondary legislation. Computacentre is providing the underlying infrastructure.

Future developments could include building an online warehouse for legislation and selected accompanying material, and there is potential for using the database as a tool for drafting new legislation.