Scope of this Guide
The guide identifies holdings of British statutes at the Queen Elizabeth II Library as well as related parliamentary papers arising from the legislative process that creates them. An explanation of the legislative process and a description of its publications are also provided. For ease of consultation, the guide is arranged in three parts: 1) Statutes, their finding aids, and the statutory process. 2) A branch of parliamentary papers known as sessional papers, some of which arise from the process of statutory enactment. For instance, proposed legislation, known as a bill, is a sessional paper. Similarly, a standing committee of the House of Commons may amend a bill after detailed scrutiny; its amendments comprise a sessional paper, i.e. a document that provides information on questions of policy and administration during a parliamentary session. Indexes to sessional papers are also covered. 3) Parliamentary papers relating to the agenda, proceedings and debates of parliament. For example, a debate on a bill at second or third reading would be recorded in the Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).
The parliamentary papers covered in Parts 2 and 3 not only cover materials relating to the statutes, but also non-statutory documents. Thus, the additional focus in these two sections is intended to assist users looking for any category of parliamentary papers, such as command papers or royal commission reports. It is for this reason that the guide is entitled British Statutes and Parliamentary Papers at the Queen Elizabeth II Library.
All three sections contain a list of Web-based equivalents of the print resources identified and described in this guide. The websites are identified at the end of each section and are also listed in the table of contents.