Office of Public Sector Information
Last Updated: 03/09/2009
This page provides links to the full text of all Northern Ireland Orders in Council which are in the nature of an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly. They are United Kingdom Statutory Instruments made by Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council and with the endorsement of the UK Parliament, in exercise of powers conferred by Schedule 1 of the Northern Ireland Act 1974 and s.85 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. These Orders in Council equate to primary legislation which might have been enacted by the previous Northern Ireland Parliament and Assembly or for which powers were not devolved to the new Northern Ireland Assembly in 1999. During a period of suspension of devolved government in Northern Ireland, legislation that would normally be passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly may, under powers conferred by the Schedule to the Northern Ireland Act 2000, also be made by Her Majesty by Order in Council.
The text of these Orders in Council are available on this website from the first Order in Council made during 1987.
Since 2002 Northern Ireland Orders in Council have been accompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum. The text of the Explanatory Memorandum is produced by the department responsible for the subject matter of the Order in Council. The purpose of the Explanatory Memorandum is to make the Order accessible to readers who are not legally qualified and who have no specialised knowledge of the matters dealt with. They are intended to allow the reader to grasp what the Order sets out to achieve and place its effect in context.
The aim is to publish these documents on this website simultaneously with their publication in printed form.
Explanatory Memorandum should be published on this website at the same time as the Order but this might not always be possible and may follow some days after the publication of the Order on this website.