GovData Docs

Legislation API Reference

Search and retrieve UK legislation from legislation.gov.uk.

Base URL: https://api.govdata.dev/v1

Search Legislation

GET /v1/legislation/search

Full-text search across UK legislation. Filter by type and year.

Query parameters

Parameter Type Required Description
q string Yes Search query (matches title and content)
type string No ukpga (Act), uksi (SI), asp (Scotland), anaw (Wales), nia (NI)
year integer No Year of enactment (e.g. 2025)
page integer No Page number (default 1, 20 results per page) 
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.govdata.dev/v1/legislation/search?q=finance&type=ukpga&year=2025"

Response

{
  "data": {
    "results": [
      {
        "type": "ukpga",
        "year": 2025,
        "number": 8,
        "title": "Finance Act 2025",
        "enacted_date": "2025-03-20",
        "url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/8"
      },
      {
        "type": "ukpga",
        "year": 2025,
        "number": 15,
        "title": "Finance (No. 2) Act 2025",
        "enacted_date": "2025-07-22",
        "url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/15"
      }
    ],
    "pagination": { "page": 1, "per_page": 20, "total": 2 }
  },
  "meta": {
    "api_version": "v1",
    "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
    "source": "The National Archives",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk"
  }
}

Get Legislation

GET /v1/legislation/:type/:year/:number

Retrieve a specific piece of legislation by type, year, and number.

Path parameters

Parameter Type Description
type string ukpga, uksi, asp, anaw, nia
year integer Year of enactment
number integer Legislation number within that year 
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  https://api.govdata.dev/v1/legislation/ukpga/2025/8

Response

{
  "data": {
    "type": "ukpga",
    "year": 2025,
    "number": 8,
    "title": "Finance Act 2025",
    "enacted_date": "2025-03-20",
    "url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/8",
    "sections": [
      { "number": "1", "title": "Income tax charge and rates" },
      { "number": "2", "title": "Corporation tax charge and main rate" },
      { "number": "3", "title": "Capital gains tax" }
    ],
    "schedules_count": 12,
    "status": "enacted"
  },
  "meta": {
    "api_version": "v1",
    "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
    "source": "The National Archives",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/8"
  }
}

Legislation data is sourced from The National Archives and synced daily. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Data Coverage

Source legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)
Date range 2000 – present (after backfill)
Records ~50K Acts and Statutory Instruments
Updated Weekly (Sunday)
Limitations UK Public General Acts and Statutory Instruments only. Does not include Welsh, Scottish, or NI-specific legislation.