legislation.gov.uk

UK laws, Act sections and legislation search

legislation.gov.uk provides official legislation, latest available revised section text or contents, and title or topic search results; some older Acts lack structured text.

Get law section

Get the latest available revised text of a section of a UK Act, or its section contents when no section is given. The outstanding-changes flag describes the Act and may include changes outside the selected section. Some older Acts are not available as structured text.

Your information

Act

Act title, with year if known; for example, Equality Act 2010. A legislation.gov.uk Act link or ID also works.

SectionOptional

Section number, such as 13. Leave blank to get the Act contents.

1 credit per completed run

The same inputs also work from your code or an AI assistant. See For developers.

Example results

Equality Act 2010

Section 13: Direct discrimination

(1) A person (A) discriminates against another (B) if, because of a protected characteristic, A treats B less favourably than A treats or would treat others. (2) If the protected characteristic is age, A does not discriminate against B if A can show A's treatment of B to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. (3) If the protected characteristic is disability, and B is not a disabled person, A does not discriminate against B only because A treats or would treat disabled persons more favourably than A treats B. (4) If the protected characteristic is marriage and civil partnership, this section applies to a contravention of Part 5 (work) only if the treatment is because it is B who is married or a civil partner. (5) If the protected characteristic is race, less favourable treatment includes segregating B from others. (6) If the protected characteristic is sex— (a) less favourable treatment of a woman includes less favourable treatment of her because she is breast-feeding; (b) in a case where B is a man, no account is to be taken of special treatment afforded to a woman in connection with pregnancy , childbirth or maternity. (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8) This section is subject to sections 17(6) and 18(7).

In force: Yes
Latest version date: Jan 1, 2024
Extent: England, Wales, Scotland
Act has changes still to be applied: Yes

View on legislation.gov.uk

About the legislation.gov.uk tool

legislation.gov.uk returns revised Act section text or Act contents; Get law section needs an Act title or identifier and optionally a section number.

Search legislation returns laws matching topic or title words, with optional legislation type and year filters.

Built from legislation.gov.uk. Last checked Sep 29, 2026.

Actions

Get law section

1 credit

What you provide

Field	Type	Required	Description
Act`act`	Text	Required	Act title, with year if known; for example, Equality Act 2010. A legislation.gov.uk Act link or ID also works.Example: Equality Act 2010
Section`section`	Text	Optional	Section number, such as 13. Leave blank to get the Act contents.Example: 13

What you get

Field	Type	Description
Link`link`	Text	Example: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/13
Text`text`	Text	Example: (1) An employee has the right not to be unfairly dismissed by his employer…
Year`year`	Number	Example: 2010
Title`title`	Text	Example: Equality Act 2010
Extent`extent`	Text	Example: England, Wales, Scotland
Heading`heading`	Text	Example: Direct discrimination
Contents`contents`	List
Link`contents[].link`	Text	Example: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/1
Number`contents[].number`	Text	Example: 1
Heading`contents[].heading`	Text	Example: Public sector duty regarding socio-economic inequalities
In Force`in_force`	Yes or no	Example: Yes
Version Date`version_date`	Date	Example: 2024-01-01
Chapter Number`chapter_number`	Number	Example: 15
Section Number`section_number`	Text	Example: 13
Prospective Note`prospective_note`	Text	Example: Prospective provision; not yet in force.
Changes Still to Be Applied`changes_still_to_be_applied`	Yes or no	Example: Yes

Example result

For Act: Equality Act 2010, Section: 13

JSON

{
  "link": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/13",
  "text": "(1) A person (A) discriminates against another (B) if, because of a protected characteristic, A treats B less favourably than A treats or would treat others.\n(2) If the protected characteristic is age…",
  "year": 2010,
  "title": "Equality Act 2010",
  "extent": "England, Wales, Scotland",
  "heading": "Direct discrimination",
  "contents": null,
  "in_force": true,
  "version_date": "2024-01-01",
  "chapter_number": 15,
  "section_number": "13",
  "prospective_note": null,
  "changes_still_to_be_applied": true
}

Search legislation

1 credit

Search UK legislation by topic or title, with optional type and year filters. Closest title matches appear first; broader text matches fill remaining places.

What you provide

Field	Type	Required	Description
Type`type`	Text	Optional	Kind of legislation, for example uk_act; any searches every kind.Example: Uk act
Year`year`	Number	Optional	Year of enactment or making, for example 2018.Example: 2018
Query`query`	Text	Required	Topic or title words to search, for example data protection.Example: minimum wage
Max Results`max_results`	Number	Optional	Maximum laws to return, for example 20.Example: 5

What you get

Field	Type	Description
Laws`laws`	List	Matching laws, closest title first.
Link`laws[].link`	Text	Legislation page link.Example: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/39
Type`laws[].type`	Text	Legislation type in words.Example: UK Public General Act
Year`laws[].year`	Number	Year of the law.Example: 1998
Title`laws[].title`	Text	Name of the law.Example: National Minimum Wage Act 1998
Number`laws[].number`	Text	Number as cited.Example: 1998 c. 39
Enacted or Made Date`laws[].enacted_or_made_date`	Date	Date enacted or made, if provided.Example: 1998-07-31

Example result

For Query: minimum wage

JSON

{
  "laws": [
    {
      "link": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/39",
      "type": "UK Public General Act",
      "year": 1998,
      "title": "National Minimum Wage Act 1998",
      "number": "1998 c. 39",
      "enacted_or_made_date": "1998-07-31"
    },
    {
      "link": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/621",
      "type": "UK Statutory Instrument",
      "year": 2015,
      "title": "The National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015",
      "number": "S.I. 2015/621",
      "enacted_or_made_date": "2015-03-09"
    },
    {
      "link": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/357",
      "type": "UK Statutory Instrument",
      "year": 2026,
      "title": "The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026",
      "number": "S.I. 2026/357",
      "enacted_or_made_date": "2026-03-19"
    }
  ]
}

For developers

Call it from your code with one request. Change the values in input to run it on new data. To get an API key, open Developers at the bottom of Studio, turn on Developer mode and go to API keys.

cURL

curl 'https://api.fous.com/v1/query' \
  --fail-with-body --silent --show-error --max-time 180 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
  "api": "@legislation-gov-uk",
  "visibility": "public",
  "operation": "get_law_section",
  "version": 1,
  "input": {
    "act": "Equality Act 2010",
    "section": "13"
  },
  "response": {
    "format": "json"
  }
}'

What you can do with it

Find laws by topic or title
Filter law searches by year or type
Retrieve revised text for an Act section
Review an Act’s contents without choosing a section

Questions about legislation.gov.uk

Can I run it with my own inputs?

Yes. Change the inputs in Studio and press Run, or send new inputs from your code, or ask a connected AI assistant.

Can I call this legislation.gov.uk tool as an API?

Yes. Send a POST request to /v1/query with your Fous API key and the inputs, and get JSON back.

How much does it cost?

Each completed run costs 1 credit. Failed runs without a completed receipt are free; completed work can remain charged if delivery is interrupted. With pay as you go, a credit costs 1¢. Monthly plans cost less per credit.

Do I need a legislation.gov.uk account?

No. You only need a Fous account.

How current is the data?

Fous gets the data from legislation.gov.uk when you run it. Some results are reused for up to 24 hours, and results that use your account or key are never reused. It was last verified on Sep 29, 2026.