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Command Papers
Command Papers are Parliamentary Papers which derive their name from the fact they are presented to the United Kingdom Parliament nominally by 'Command of Her Majesty', but in practice generally by a government minister. Apart from a few exceptions, such as the Queen's speech, they are published in a numbered series and prefixed with an abbreviation of 'command'. This has changed over time to allow for new sequences, as follows:
Prefix list
- C 1870 - 1899
- Cd. 1900 - 1918
- Cmd. 1919 - 1956
- Cmnd. 1956 - 1986
- Cm. 1986 -
Command Papers are papers of interest to Parliament where presentation to Parliament is not required by statute. The subjects may be major policy proposals (White Papers) and consultation documents (Green Papers), diplomatic documents such as treaties, Government responses to Select Committee reports, Royal Commission reports, and reports of major committees of inquiry or certain departmental reports or reviews.
Guidance is available on how to publish a command paper below:
How to publish a Command Paper (PDF, 0.58Mb)
The Command Paper series is administered by the Information Policy team of The National Archives. To obtain a Command Paper number, please email Official.Publishing@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk, or phone +44 (0) 20 8392 5218.
Finding Command Papers
Newly published Command Papers can be found on the Official Documents website, or purchased from:
The Stationery Office Limited
PO Box 29
Norwich
NR3 1GN
Phone: 0870 600 5522
Fax: 0870 600 5533
Email: book.orders@tso.co.uk
Web: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop
Command Papers can also often be found on the website of the government department responsible for the publication of the document.
UK Treaties Online
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office's UK Treaties Online (UKTO) database provides links to the texts of Command Papers published in the Treaty Series from 1892 to 1996 inclusive. Texts to treaties published as Command Papers since 1997 are currently available through the Treaty Command Paper and Explanatory Memoranda page on the FCO's website. The UKTO database also holds records to around 14,000 agreements involving the UK since 1834.
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