Editing Command paper

{{Short description|British government document}}
[[File:Hillsborough Taylor Interim Report Cm765.pdf|thumb|The Interim [[Taylor Report]] into the Hillsborough disaster is an example of a command paper.]]

A '''command paper''' is an official document in the [[United Kingdom]] which is issued by [[Government of the United Kingdom|His Majesty's Government]] (HMG) and presented to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]].

[[White paper]]s, [[green paper]]s, [[treaty|treaties]], government responses, draft bills, reports from [[royal commission]]s, reports from independent inquiries and various government organisations can be released as command papers, so called because they are presented to Parliament formally "By [[monarchy of the United Kingdom|His Majesty]]'s Command".

==Dissemination==
Command papers are:
* produced by government departments
* printed on behalf of [[His Majesty's Stationery Office]] (HMSO)
* presented to Parliament "by Command of His Majesty" by the appropriate government minister
* recorded by the House of Commons and the House of Lords
* published by government departments on [[gov.uk]]
* subject to statutory [[legal deposit]]

==Numbering==
Command papers are numbered. Since 1870 they have been prefixed with an abbreviation of "command" which has changed over time to allow for new sequences.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width=10% | Prefix || width=15% | Dates || width=30% | Numbers
|-
| || 1833&ndash;1869 || 1 to 4222<ref name=gw>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=G.&nbsp;L. |year=1982 |title=[[Learning the Law]] |edition=11th |location=London |publisher=Stevens |page=180 |isbn=978-0-420-46290-9}}</ref>
|-
| C. || 1870&ndash;1899 || C.1 to C.9550<ref name=gw/>
|-
| Cd. || 1900&ndash;1918 || Cd.1 to Cd.9239<ref name=gw/>
|-
| Cmd. || 1919&ndash;1956 || Cmd.1 to Cmd.9889<ref name=gw/>
|-
| Cmnd. || 1956&ndash;1986 || Cmnd.1 to Cmnd.9927<ref>''The [[Australian Guide to Legal Citation]]''. Third Edition. Melbourne University Law Review Association Inc. Melbourne Journal of Law International Inc. Melbourne. 2010. Page 248.</ref>
|-
| Cm. || 1986&ndash;2018 || Cm.1 to Cm.9756
|-
| CP || 2019&ndash; || CP 1 upwards
|}

==See also==
*[[Office of Public Sector Information]] (OPSI)
*[[Treaty series]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*Command papers on [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?keywords=&publication_filter_option=all&topics%5B%5D=all&departments%5B%5D=all&official_document_status=command_and_act_papers&world_locations%5B%5D=all&from_date=&to_date= GOV.UK]
*UK national government publications at the [https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/uk-national-government-publications British Library]

[[Category:Collections of treaties]]
[[Category:Government of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Government reports]]
[[Category:Documents of the United Kingdom]]