Short-form references in Origin notes
Lawmaker’s ‘tag references’ function can identify references to existing enactments which appear in Origin notes. This information can then be used to construct the Table of Origins and Table of Destinations.
For the tagging function to work, the text inside Origin notes must meet these criteria:
When using an abbreviation to refer to a piece of primary or secondary legislation, that abbreviation must be included and tagged within the Table of Abbreviations which appears at the start of the Table of Origins attachment
References to sections, subsections, paragraphs, Schedules etc. must be written out using a standardised format (described in more detail below)
Where an origin note includes multiple references to several different provisions in the same document, these must be separated by commas
Where an origin note includes multiple references to more than one external document, these must be separated by semi-colons.
General conventions
The following general conventions apply to the form of references used in the Origin notes:
Convention | Example |
|---|---|
References to different provisions of the same enactment should be separated by commas | s.3(2), (4), (7) |
References to different enactments should be separated by semi-colons | IA 1986 s.2, 5; CA 2006 s.1081(1) |
When specifying a range of provisions, do not specify a range (either using the word “to” or using a hyphen). State each of the provisions, separated by commas | SI 2006/364 reg.5(2), (3), (4), (5) |
Specific conventions for references to Acts
Convention | Example |
|---|---|
Subsections and sub-paragraphs should be separated by commas | CA 2006 s.2(1), (2) |
Each Schedule of an Act should be preceded with “Sch.”. A paragraph of a Schedule should be preceded with “para.”. The Schedule number and the word “para.” should be separated by a space | Sch.1 para.4(5) |
References to two or more paragraphs of a Schedule should be preceded by “para.” before the first paragraph only (and the Schedule number need not be repeated) | Sch.2 para.4, 5, 6 or Sch.2 paras.4, 5, 6 |
References to a provision of a single (unnumbered) Schedule should use the form “Sch.0” | Sch.0 para.1(2) |
Specific conventions for references to Regulations and Orders
Convention | Example |
|---|---|
Regulations should be preceded with “reg.” | SI 2006/364 reg.4 |
Articles should be preceded with “art.” | SI 2025/295 art.3(1) |
References to Schedule paragraphs in secondary legislation follow the same conventions as for Schedule paragraphs in primary legislation | Sch.2 para.4, 5, 6 |