Search help

www.cans.org.uk has a powerful search engine, which enables you to find legislation quickly and easily.  To achieve the best results, we recommend that you read and follow the search tips below.

1. Enter the search word(s) you require in the Keyword search box. The search engine will find exact matches to the word(s) you enter. NB: the keyword search function is not case sensitive.
2. If you enter two words, the search will return results that include both words.
3. Please avoid searching for commonly occurring words (e.g. then or will) or words that are likely to be used frequently in a legal publication (e.g. court or legal). Such searches will generate numerous results and make it hard for you to pin point the legislation you require.
4. To find paragraphs that contain one word but do not include another, given word, separate them using NOT (NB: NOT must be in capitals).
5. To search for an exact phrase, please place it in double quotes, e.g. "noise abatement". Please do not use NOT in conjunction with the exact phrase function.
6. To search for similar words, please include an * (asterisk) directly after the word (i.e. no space). This represents a single character or amount of characters. Searching for bankrupt* will find any word beginning with the letters bankrupt, for example: bankrupt, bankrupts, bankruptcy, bankruptcies, etc.
7. Please do not use apostrophes or symbols in your search term (i.e. %, !, ?, £, &) as these characters are not recognised by the search engine.
8. Use the All legal sectors dropdown menu to limit your search to a specific section of www.cans.org.uk.
9. www.cans.org.uk covers the laws of England, Wales and Scotland. Use the All legislation dropdown menu to search for nation-specific legislation. National flags are displayed throughout the site to indicate to which country (or combination of countries) each piece of the legislation applies.

Navigation help

Apart from using the Keyword search function, navigating the site is simple.

1. Each section of the site is displayed clearly on the home page as well as throughout the site so you can navigate from the list of sections if you prefer not to use the keyword search function.
2. Once you have left the home page you can see where you are by taking a look at the breadcrumb trail displayed towards to top of each page.
3. If you want to go to another area of the site, click with your mouse when your cursor is over a link. The links appear as blue text.
4. Each page allows you to go forwards or backwards to text related closely to that displayed.
5. You also have the option of viewing the full text relative to your area of interest. This is done through a “light box”.
6. Don't worry if you go to the wrong page, just click on the Back button of your browser. You can do this again and again, until you get back to where you want to be ... or use the breadcrumb trail to skip back.
7. If you have a fair idea of what you are looking for, the A-Z index provides a simple way of accessing the information.  To do this, click on the A-Z link (located at the bottom of the section listing), select the appropriate letter (i.e. either A, B, C, etc...) and scroll down the list until you reach the subject you require. Then simply click on the corresponding link and you will be taken directly to the relevant piece of legislation.