Laws of the Land

This Act changed UK law to allow samesex couples to get married legally. Before 2013, only oppositesex couples could marry. The Act made marriage equal for everyone, regardless of whether someone is attracted to the same sex or opposite sex. It gave samesex married couples the same legal rights and responsibilities as other married couples.

The Finance Act 2013 is the government's annual law that sets out how much tax people and businesses pay, what that money is spent on, and any changes to the tax system. It's basically the government's financial rulebook for that year.

This Act is Parliament's approval for the government to spend money from the public budget during 2013. It sets out how much money each government department (like health, education, and defence) can spend that year, making sure the government has legal permission to use taxpayers' money.

This Act aims to speed up economic growth and infrastructure development across the UK by making it easier and faster to plan and build important projects like transport links and utilities. It's designed to remove bureaucratic delays so the country can invest in and complete major construction projects more quickly.

This Act sets out the rules for how pensions work for people employed in the public sector (NHS, schools, local councils, armed forces, etc.). It controls pension costs, decides what benefits workers receive, and outlines how these pension schemes should be managed fairly.

The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act aims to reduce red tape and simplify rules for businesses. It removes or changes regulations the government sees as outdated or unhelpful, while also affecting employment laws and how businesses must follow health and safety rules.

This Act sets out the laws and regulations that ships must follow when traveling in British waters. It covers things like safety requirements, navigation rules, and rules to protect the sea and its wildlife.

The Crime and Courts Act is a law that reforms how the criminal justice system works in the UK. It makes changes to how courts operate, how police investigate crimes, and how the justice system is organized, with the goal of making it more efficient and effective.

This Act changes the rules for who can become the next monarch. It removes the old rule that sons always inherit before daughters, meaning girls and boys now have equal rights to the throne based simply on birth order, just like in regular inheritance.

This Act creates an independent Groceries Code Adjudicator to investigate complaints from small suppliers and farmers about unfair treatment by big supermarket chains. The Adjudicator can investigate breaches of a code of conduct and help ensure supermarkets treat their smaller business partners fairly.

The Justice and Security Act gives the UK government and security services expanded powers to protect national security. It allows for greater secrecy in court cases involving national security, closed material procedures (where some evidence is hidden from defendants), and oversight of how intelligence is used.

This Act allows the government to run 'Back to Work' schemes that require unemployed people receiving benefits to participate in work experience, training, or activity programmes. The aim is to help jobseekers develop skills and experience to find paid employment, though participation is mandatory rather than voluntary.

This Act changed how UK welfare benefits (like jobseeker's allowance and housing benefit) are increased each year. Instead of matching inflation automatically, it capped most benefit increases at 1% per year for three years, meaning the money people receive wouldn't grow as quickly as prices do.

This Act is a law that controls what British people, companies, and ships can do in Antarctica. It sets environmental protections, requires permits for certain activities, and gives UK authorities power to stop harmful behaviour in that region.

The Mobile Homes Act 2013 is a law that protects people living in mobile homes and caravans on parks. It sets out fair rules about how residents can be treated, what they pay, and when they can be asked to leave, giving them similar protections to people who rent ordinary homes.

The Presumption of Death Act 2013 lets courts officially declare someone dead when they've been missing for a long time and there's no trace of them. This helps their families settle legal matters like wills, insurance, and inheritance without having to wait forever or prove what happened to the missing person.

This Act allows the UK government to spend money temporarily before Parliament votes on and approves the main budget for the year. It's essentially giving the government permission to keep paying for public services during the time between when the old budget ends and a new one is officially approved.

This Act sets out the legal rules for how prisons must handle prisoners' personal property, such as clothes, money, and other items. It explains what prisons can do with belongings, how they should store them safely, and what happens to property when someone leaves prison or passes away.

This Act creates strict rules for anyone buying and selling scrap metal in the UK. It requires dealers to keep detailed records, verify who they're buying from, and follow security rules to stop stolen materials from being sold as scrap metal.

This Act gave the UK government the power to approve and put into effect certain EU decisions and agreements without needing to pass a new separate law each time. It was a procedural law designed to make it faster and easier for the UK to adopt EU rules, though it limited Parliament's detailed oversight of those decisions.