Act Summaries

Plain-English statute summaries with key provisions, exam routes, and official source links.

6
Core acts
4
Practice angles
6
Official texts

High-yield Act summaries

Each summary gives the statutory purpose, the provisions to check first, and the exam move that usually matters.

Practise by subject

Public law and civil liberties

Human Rights Act 1998

Official text

Brings Convention-rights analysis into domestic public-law reasoning through public-authority duties, rights-compatible interpretation, and declarations of incompatibility.

Key provisions

Section 3 interpretationSection 4 declarationsSection 6 public authority duty

Exam route

Start with the claimant, the public authority, the engaged right, the interference, and the justification standard.

Employment, services, education, and discrimination

Equality Act 2010

Official text

Consolidates core discrimination protections around protected characteristics, prohibited conduct, reasonable adjustments, exceptions, and enforcement routes.

Key provisions

Protected characteristicsDirect and indirect discriminationReasonable adjustments

Exam route

Separate the protected characteristic, comparator or group disadvantage, justification, and available remedy.

Consumer contracts and unfair terms

Consumer Rights Act 2015

Official text

Sets consumer-facing rules for goods, services, digital content, statutory remedies, and unfair contract terms.

Key provisions

Goods and digital content standardsServices performed with reasonable careUnfair terms control

Exam route

Classify the contract first, then move through statutory quality terms, short-term remedies, and any unfair-term issue.

Company law and corporate governance

Companies Act 2006

Official text

Provides the main company-law framework for incorporation, directors duties, shareholder rights, accounts, filings, and remedies.

Key provisions

Directors dutiesDerivative claimsUnfair prejudice petitions

Exam route

Identify the company actor, the source of power or duty, the breach, and the proper claimant or remedy.

Privacy, information law, and compliance

Data Protection Act 2018

Official text

Supports the UK data-protection regime through processing rules, data-subject rights, enforcement powers, and sector-specific provisions.

Key provisions

Processing conditionsData-subject rightsRegulator powers

Exam route

Work through controller or processor status, lawful basis, rights request, exemption, and enforcement consequence.

Commercial sale of goods

Sale of Goods Act 1979

Official text

Governs many business-to-business sale-of-goods questions, including implied terms, transfer of property, delivery, acceptance, and remedies.

Key provisions

Implied title and quality termsPassing of propertyRejection and damages

Exam route

Pin down whether the buyer is a consumer or business, then apply the implied term and remedy sequence.

How to read an Act fast

1

Locate the operative section

Find the section that creates the right, duty, offence, power, exception, or remedy before reading commentary.

2

Check definitions

Definitions often control the answer: person, worker, public authority, consumer, data, company, goods, or service.

3

Read exceptions separately

Treat carve-outs, limitation clauses, defences, and schedules as separate issues rather than footnotes.

4

Tie statute to facts

Use the statutory words in the application paragraph and show exactly which facts satisfy or fail each element.

Statute revision checkpoint

For any Act, record the short title, commencement status for the relevant provision, definitions, amendments, leading cases, and one problem-question fact pattern.