Referencing - UK & EU Law: Statutory instrument (SI)

Statutory instruments (SI) are secondary legislation, known as regulations, rules or orders.

This guidance applies whether you found the SI in print or online.

title | year, | SI number

Footnote and bibliography:
e.g. Penalties for Disorderly Behaviour (Amendment of Minimum Age) Order 2004, SI 2004/3166

To pinpoint, follow the citation with a comma, the relevant term or abbreviation and a number or letter. To pinpoint several articles (for example), insert a dash between the article numbers:
e.g. Penalties for Disorderly Behaviour (Amendment of Minimum Age) Order 2004, SI 2004/3166, art 3

• Do not include 'The' at the beginning of the title
• Use capitals for the major words.

SI are numbered consecutively throughout a year, e.g. 2004 No. 3166 is the 3166th SI enacted in 2004.

To create an SI number for a reference, follow 'SI' with the year / the serial number, e.g. SI 2004/3166.

The divisions of an SI are named according to whether it is a regulation, a rule or an order (see table in left column). They may be further subdivided into paragraphs and subparagraphs.

The main text of the SI may be supplemented by schedules, which are divided into parts, paragraphs and subparagraphs.

These divisions are referenced using either a term (e.g. article 3) or an abbreviation (e.g. art 3) as follows:

• In a footnote, use the abbreviation
• In the text of your work, use either the term or the abbreviation but...
• Use the term at the beginning of a sentence
• When referring to paragraphs, always use the abbreviation.

If citing a paragraph as part of a division, use only the abbreviation for the division. For example, paragraph (2) of regulation (7) of the Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009 is referenced as follows: Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2009, SI 2009/2163, reg 7(2).