Public Access to Legislation Project
Introduction to the Public Access to Legislation (PAL) Project
The PAL Project is designed to improve the way in which New Zealand legislation (Bills, Acts, Statutory Regulations, and Supplementary Order Papers (SOPs)) is made available to the public. The aim of the project is to provide public access to up-to-date official legislation in both printed and electronic forms. Electronic versions will be available free via the internet.
The objectives of the PAL Project are to:
- make legislation available electronically and in printed form from a database owned and maintained by the Crown
- provide access to Acts and Statutory Regulations in electronic and printed forms as soon as possible after their enactment or making
- provide access to legislation with amendments incorporated as soon as possible after the legislation becomes law
- provide electronic access to Bills at key stages during their progress through the House
- provide free electronic access to Bills, SOPs, Acts, and Statutory Regulations via the internet (including Acts and Statutory Regulations with their amendments incorporated)
- make it possible (in selected cases) to see the effects of proposed amendments on existing legislation
- make it easier to see the effect of amendments to proposed legislation during its passage through the House.
The project will not provide access to deemed regulations, bylaws, Hansard, or international treaties or conventions. The PCO is not responsible for drafting or publishing this material. Why are deemed regulations (such as Rules) not included in the material to be made available by the PAL Project?
The PAL Project will use new technology for both the drafting and the publishing of legislation. It will affect not only the way in which legislation is made available to the public, but also the way that legislation is drafted within the PCO and the Tax Drafting Unit of the IRD, and made available to Parliament.
The PCO is undertaking the project in collaboration with the Office of the Clerk and the Tax Drafting Unit of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD). Unisys New Zealand Limited (Unisys) is the PCO's implementation partner for the project.