The Statutes of the Realm is an authoritative collection of acts of the Parliament of England from the earliest times to the Union of the Parliaments in 1707, and Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain passed up to the death of Queen Anne in 1714. It was published between 1810 and 1825 by the Record Commission as a series of nine volumes, with volume IV split into two separately bound parts, together with volumes containing an alphabetical index and a chronological index.^[1]

The collection contains all acts included in all earlier printed collections, together with a number of acts and translations which had not previously been printed. Also, in contrast with previous collections, the full text of each act is printed regardless of whether it was still in force at the time of publication. However, only the titles of private acts are printed from 1539 onwards. The text of each act is generally taken from the Statute Rolls, or later from its enrollment in Chancery, with missing text supplied from the original acts preserved in the Records of Parliament and other sources.

The first volume is prefaced with a comprehensive introduction explaining how and why The Statutes of the Realm was prepared. It also contains the text of various charters of liberties, from the reign of Henry I to that of Edward I of England.

The collection does not contain any acts passed by the old Parliament of Scotland or the old Parliament of Ireland, nor does it contain the ordinances and acts passed without royal authority in the mid-seventeenth century.

Section 19(1)(b) of the Interpretation Act 1978 refers to The Statutes of the Realm.^[2]

19. Citation of other Acts.

(1) Where an Act cites another Act by year, statute, session or chapter, or a section or other portion of another Act by number or letter, the reference shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be read as referring—

(a) in the case of Acts included in any revised edition of the statutes printed by authority, to that edition;

(b) in the case of Acts not so included but included in the edition prepared under the direction of the Record Commission, to that edition;

(c) in any other case, to the Acts printed by the Queen’s Printer, or under the superintendence or authority of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.

For the purpose of citation, Statutes of the Realm may be abbreviated to Stat Realm.^[3]

List of volumes