HL Deb 16 December 1998 vol 595 cc156-7WA
Lord Mackay of Drumadoon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

  1. (a) what progress is being made in the preparation of the Statute Law Database of the public general statutes;
  2. (b) when the database will be complete;
  3. (c) whether it will be possible to search the database to establish which statutes are currently in force;
  4. (d) whether they propose to make the database available on the Internet;
  5. (e) whether they will make available on the Internet, for the use of the general public, that part of the database which has already been prepared. [HL179]

The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg)

  1. (a) Subject to a few exceptions, the Statute Law Database currently holds electronic versions of all public general statutes that were in force on 1 February 1991 and all public general statutes that have been enacted since that date. The Statutory Publications Office is editing the data to reflect amendments made by subsequent legislation.
  2. (b) The target for completion is the year 2000.
  3. (c) The enquiry system will display the text as it was in force on any specified date after 1 February 1991. It will be possible to establish whether any provision of any public general statute is currently in force.
  4. (d) Use of the Internet is one of a number of options currently under consideration.
  5. (e) It is not economically practical to divide the database in the manner suggested. Moreover, incomplete information might be misleading.