Subject Guides: Law: Official Publications

Official publications

An official publication is a document issued by an official body, for example government agencies and parliament.

Indexes & catalogues

British Library
The British Library hold government publications from most governments across the world. Take a look at the guides on this website to find out more about the British Library holdings and searching for official publications

Advanced Google

Use the Advanced Search to limit your search to words in the title, file type, domain etc. To access this function click on the cog, at the top right of the results screen.

Command papers

House of Commons and House of Lords Parliamentary Papers; Public Petitions to Parliament (ProQuest UK Parliamentary Papers) This link opens in a new window
The University has perpetual access to the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (18th - 21st centuries). There is temporary access to the House of Lords Parliamentary Papers (1800-1910) and Public Petitions to Parliament (1833-1918) until 30th June 2023. If you would like us to keep access to these collections contact your Academic Liaison Librarian.
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers gives access to over 200,000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present, with supplementary material back to 1688. It includes page images and searchable full text for each paper, along with detailed indexing.

House of Lords Parliamentary Papers covers the period 1800 to 1910 and includes many bills which originated and were subsequently rejected by the Lords along with the final version of a bill passing from Commons to the Lords.

Public Petitions to Parliament covers the period 1833 to 1918 and gives access to the records of the Select Committee on Public Petitions including the full text of each petition that the Committee transcribed.

Accessibility information

Command Papers are Government publications presented to Parliament. The term 'command' comes from the following statement carried on the papers: "Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for ...by Command of Her Majesty".

Command Papers are State Papers, White Papers, Green Papers, Government Responses to Select Committee reports, reports of Committee Commission and some annual reports and statistics from Government departments.

Official Documents

Reference facility for Command and departmentally sponsored House of Commons Papers. All Command Papers and House of Commons Papers published from May 2005 onwards, as well as key Departmental papers, are available for free on the site in PDF format.
Parliament UK

The Committee pages of Parliament.uk provide access to Select Committee reports dating back as far as 1997/98.

Hansard

House of Commons Hansard
Provides access to debates from the House of Commons dating back to November 1988. Browse by date or MP.

The official report of debates, questions and other proceedings in the House of Commons and the House of Lords chambers and committees.

House of Lords Hansard
Provides access to House of Lords debates dating back to 1995/96.
Parliament UK
As well as providing access to Hansard the website also includes some recent debates from the General Committee. Explore the Committees pages of the website to see what is available.

Bills

Bills before Parliament
Lists all Bills currently before Parliament. Any Bills which start in the Lords have [HL] in their title.

Bills set out proposals for new laws, and plans to change existing laws, that are presented before Parliament. They include Public Bills, Private Bills, and Private Members' Bills.

Bills in previous sessions
Provides access to Bills from previous sessions dating back as far as 2001/02.

Historical publications

Cabinet Papers 1915-1978 This link opens in a new window
Gives full text access to Cabinet papers, including minutes, memoranda, conclusions of cabinet meetings, Cabinet Office precedent books, and some Cabinet Secretary's notebooks. This primary source material is accompanied by a range of supporting and background material and resources.

Accessibility information
Eighteenth Century Official British Parliamentary Publications Portal 1688 - 1834 This link opens in a new window
This portal provides access to 1,400 volumes of core 18th century official Parliamentary publications which include Sessional Papers, Journals and Proceedings of both Houses of Parliament, Parliamentary Registers, Private Bills, Private Acts and Local and Personal Acts.

Accessibility information
Hansard 1803-2005 This link opens in a new window
The full text of Hansard, the Official Report of debates in Parliament. This is a prototype digitisation project still under development and the information has been provided by the Hansard Digitisation Project, led by the Directorate of Information Services of the House of Commons and the Library of the House of Lords.

Accessibility information
House of Commons and House of Lords Parliamentary Papers; Public Petitions to Parliament (ProQuest UK Parliamentary Papers) This link opens in a new window
The University has perpetual access to the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (18th - 21st centuries). There is temporary access to the House of Lords Parliamentary Papers (1800-1910) and Public Petitions to Parliament (1833-1918) until 30th June 2023. If you would like us to keep access to these collections contact your Academic Liaison Librarian.
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers gives access to over 200,000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present, with supplementary material back to 1688. It includes page images and searchable full text for each paper, along with detailed indexing.

House of Lords Parliamentary Papers covers the period 1800 to 1910 and includes many bills which originated and were subsequently rejected by the Lords along with the final version of a bill passing from Commons to the Lords.

Public Petitions to Parliament covers the period 1833 to 1918 and gives access to the records of the Select Committee on Public Petitions including the full text of each petition that the Committee transcribed.

Accessibility information
State Papers Online This link opens in a new window
New from February 2023: The Stuart and the Cumberland Papers from the Royal Archives, Windsor Castle and Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782, Part I: State Papers Domestic, Military, Naval and Registers of the Privy Council.
This major archive gives access to the following collections:

- The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Domestic
- The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Foreign, Scotland, Borders, Ireland and Registers of the Privy Council
- The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I - Anne I, 1603-1714: State Papers Domestic
- The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I - Anne I, 1603-1714: State Papers Foreign, Ireland
- The Stuart and the Cumberland Papers from the Royal Archives, Windsor Castle
- Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782, Part I: State Papers Domestic, Military, Naval and Registers of the Privy Council

The resource reproduces the original historical manuscripts in facsimile and links each manuscript to its corresponding fully-searchable Calendar entry.

Accessibility information

Useful websites

GOV.UK
Provides links to all Ministerial departments.

The following websites provide general information about Government process, policies and departments.

Parliament UK
The Parliament.uk website provides a wealth of information about the House of Commons, House of Lords and other Committees. Links are provided to a wide range of full text official publications.
The National Archive
The National Archives is home to millions of documents, files and images that cover 1,000 years of history. Includes access to government publications and papers from previous sessions. For further information about the service take a look at the guides, tutorials, and podcasts.