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The short title is the formal name by which a piece of primary legislation
Primary legislation

Primary legislation is legislation made by the legislative branch of government. This contrasts with secondary legislation, made by the executive branch, usually within boundaries laid down by the legislature....
 is usually referred to in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and other Westminster-influenced jurisdiction
Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
s (such as Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 or Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
). It contrasts with the long title
Long title

The long title is one of the parts, together with the short title, and the operative provisions , which comprise an Act of Parliament or Bill in the United Kingdom and other countries with Westminster-based political systems....
 which, while usually being more fully descriptive of the legislation's purpose and effects, is generally too unwieldy for most uses. For example, the short title House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords Act 1999

The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. It was a major constitutional enactment that Lords Reform greatly one of the chambers of Parliament, the House of Lords....
 contrasts with the long title An Act to restrict membership of the House of Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage; to make related provision about disqualifications for voting at elections to, and for membership of, the House of Commons; and for connected purposes.

Unlike the long title, which precedes the preamble
Preamble

A preamble is an introductory and explanatory statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute....
 and enacting formula, and thus sits outside the main body of text, the short title for modern legislation is explicitly defined by a specific section, typically at the very end or very beginning of the main text.






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The short title is the formal name by which a piece of primary legislation
Primary legislation

Primary legislation is legislation made by the legislative branch of government. This contrasts with secondary legislation, made by the executive branch, usually within boundaries laid down by the legislature....
 is usually referred to in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and other Westminster-influenced jurisdiction
Jurisdiction

In law, jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility....
s (such as Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 or Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
). It contrasts with the long title
Long title

The long title is one of the parts, together with the short title, and the operative provisions , which comprise an Act of Parliament or Bill in the United Kingdom and other countries with Westminster-based political systems....
 which, while usually being more fully descriptive of the legislation's purpose and effects, is generally too unwieldy for most uses. For example, the short title House of Lords Act 1999
House of Lords Act 1999

The House of Lords Act 1999 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. It was a major constitutional enactment that Lords Reform greatly one of the chambers of Parliament, the House of Lords....
 contrasts with the long title An Act to restrict membership of the House of Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage; to make related provision about disqualifications for voting at elections to, and for membership of, the House of Commons; and for connected purposes.

Unlike the long title, which precedes the preamble
Preamble

A preamble is an introductory and explanatory statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute....
 and enacting formula, and thus sits outside the main body of text, the short title for modern legislation is explicitly defined by a specific section, typically at the very end or very beginning of the main text. As with the above example, short titles are generally made up of just a few words that describe in broad terms the area of law being changed or the thing affected, followed by the word "Act" and then the year in which the legislation is formally enacted. Originally all short titles had a comma preceding the year; whether this is retained or not depends on the country involved.

Draft legislation (bills
Bill (proposed law)

A bill is a proposed new law introduced within a legislature that has not been ratification, adopted, or received royal assent. Once a bill has become law, it is thereafter an Statute; but in popular usage the two terms are often treated interchangeably....
) also uses short titles, but substitutes the word "Bill" for "Act".

Since the second half of the nineteenth century, short titles have become the usual method of referencing earlier statute law within legislation itself. In the UK this replaced the earlier method of citing the long title together with the chapter no. and the regnal year
Regnal year

A regnal year is a year of the reign of a monarch. From Latin regnum meaning kingdom, rule.The oldest dating systems were in regnal years, and considered the date as an ordinal number, not a cardinal number....
(s) of the parliamentary session
Parliamentary session

A legislative session is the period of time when a legislature is convened for the purpose of lawmaking. Legislatures plan their business using a legislative calendar....
 in which it received Royal Assent
Royal Assent

The granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which a constitutional monarchy completes the legislative process of lawmaking by formally assenting to an Act of Parliament....
. For example, modern legislation would simply refer to "the Evidence Act 1845", whereas in the past it would have been necessary to use wording such as the Act passed in the eighth and ninth year of Her Majesty's reign chapter one hundred and thirteen intituled "An Act to facilitate the Admission in Evidence of certain official and other Documents".

Short titles were introduced because the titles of statutes (now commonly known as long title
Long title

The long title is one of the parts, together with the short title, and the operative provisions , which comprise an Act of Parliament or Bill in the United Kingdom and other countries with Westminster-based political systems....
s) had become so long that they were no longer a useful means of citation. For example, the title of 19 Geo.2 c.26 (1745) (Attainder of the Earl Kellie and others) ran to 65 lines of King's printer and to over 400 words.

Short titles were first introduced for Acts of Parliament in 1840's. Amending Acts also began to take the opportunity to create short titles for earlier Acts as well as for themselves. Eventually the Short Titles Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c.10) was passed to create short titles for almost all remaining legislation. This statute was repealed and replaced by the Short Titles Act 1896, which conferred short titles on about 2,000 Acts. The Short Titles Act (Northern Ireland) 1951 conferred short titles on 179 Acts applying to Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland

conventional_long_name = Northern Ireland|native_name= Tuaisceart ?ireannNorlin Airlann|motto =|image_map = Europe location N-IRL2.png...
. The Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1964
Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1964

The Statute Law Revision Act 1964 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.It was prepared by the Statute Law Committee....
 conferred short titles on 164 pre-union Acts of the Parliament of Scotland
Parliament of Scotland

The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Independence Kingdom of Scotland.The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early thirteenth century, and the first meeting for which reliable evidence survives was at Kirkliston in 1235, during the reign of A...
. Similar Acts have been passed in other jurisdictions.

In a small number of cases, particular Acts have had more than one short title given to them, for example because subsequent amendments to their contents have rendered the earlier name inaccurate. Likewise, the Supreme Court Act 1981, has been renamed the "Senior Courts Act 1981" by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005
Constitutional Reform Act 2005

The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for a Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to take over the existing role of the Law Lords and some powers of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and remove the functions of Speaker of the House of Lords and Head of the Jud...
, because the Supreme Court of Judicature, the subject of the 1981 Act, is being renamed because of the creation of a new, unrelated court called (perhaps confusingly) the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was established in law by Part III of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. The Lord Chancellor has announced that it will start work in October 2009 once its new premises are ready....
.

British (and English
Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. Its roots can be traced back to the early medieval period. In a series of developments, it came increasingly to constrain the power of the King of England, and went on after the Act of Union 1707 to merge with the Parliament of Scotland and form the main basis of the Pa...
) legislation that has been "inherited" by the legal systems of other countries has also sometimes ended up with a short title in one jurisdiction that differs from that used in another; for example, the Act of Parliament that created Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 in 1867 is formally known in Canada as the Constitution Act, 1867
Constitution Act, 1867

The Constitution Act, 1867 , constitutes a major part of Canada's Constitution of Canada. The Act entails the original creation of a federation dominion and defines much of the operation of the Government of Canada, including its Canadian federalism, the Canadian House of Commons, the Canadian Senate, the justice system, and the taxation sys...
, whereas it is still known as the British North America Act 1867
British North America Act 1867

The British North America Act 1867 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that established the Dominion of Canada. It is known in Canada as the Constitution Act, 1867....
 in British law.

An example of a particularly lengthy short title is the "Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Act (1868) Amendment Act (1879) Amendment Act 1880".