Converting an NI Bill to an Act

Introduction

Once a Bill has gone through all the amending stages and is ready for enactment, its content will need updating so that it becomes an Act.

How to convert an NIA Bill into an Act

Dialog box when converting a bill to an act

Step 1: Create the Speaker’s Copy

Instructions

From the Project tab, find the final Bill version and select Actions > Create Act Version
Specify a folder called 05 Royal Assent and a version description called Speaker’s Copy and specify the act year and chapter number and select Create
Select Actions > Generate PDF
Save the PDF in the required folder in your organisation’s repository

Step 2: Create the final copy

Instructions

From the Project tab, duplicate the Speaker’s Copy, calling it Royal Assent
Select Actions > Update Document Information and supply the Assent date and update
Select Actions > Generate PDF
Save the PDF in the required folder in your organisation’s repository

Step 3: Submit to TNA

Instructions

From the Project tab, find the PDF snapshot on the Project tab and select Actions > Submit to TNA
On the significant version that will appear on the right-hand side, select Actions > Download ZIP file
On the National Archive’s Publishing Portal, upload the ZIP File

The National Archives publishing portal has not integrated with Lawmaker’s API yet, so you will need to manually upload the downloaded ZIP file onto their publishing system.

Converting an NI Bill into an Act will make the following changes:

The XML will be updated so that the document type is classed as an Act
An Act front cover and table of contents is inserted
Square brackets will appear after the long title
- If assent date is supplied, this will appear between the square brackets.
- If assent date is left empty, a space wide-enough to write the assent date will appear instead between the square brackets.
If supplied, the Act Year and Chapter Number will be inserted in the front cover, table of contents and first page of the Act
“Bill” in the short title will be changed to “Act” and the Act Year inserted at the end
“Bill” in the long title will be changed to “Act”
The stage version rubric will be removed
The back cover will be removed