F-notes - Amendments (Textual)

‘F’ stands for ‘Footnotes’. This annotation type is used for amendments, including repeals, where there is authority to change the text.

A footnote reference is placed inside the opening square bracket enclosing the amendment text or, in the case of a repeal, before the three dots (for repealed words), or before the provision or sub-provision number (which is retained when a whole provision or sub-provision is repealed).

Note that, for older annotations, the location of footnote references may vary from the above. For example, the reference for a repeal dating from before the basedate will usually be found at the end of the row of dots rather than at the beginning.

For the amendment or repeal of a whole Act, whole Part, Schedule, etc., the footnote reference is placed against the short title, long title or heading as the case requires.

The footnote annotation will contain a brief description of the type of amendment, the commencement date (or ‘prosp.’ if not yet in force), and a citation of the legislative provisions providing authority for the amendment.

Note that, in Statutory Instruments and other unrevised secondary legislation, all annotation numbers are prefixed with ‘F’, regardless of their content.

Northern Ireland Variations

In Northern Ireland revised legislation, all annotations inserted prior to 2006, not just those relating to amendments to text, will appear as F-notes. At present this means that they will all appear under the heading ‘Amendments – Textual’. We are considering options for correcting this. Also, these annotations do not follow the SLD format illustrated above – see Content of Annotations.