Laws.gov.vg provides access to the following legislation:

• Constitution
• Acts and Subsidiary Legislation (Current/in force legislation)
• Revised Acts and Subsidiary Legislation (Consolidated legislation as at a fixed date in time)
• Repealed Acts (laws no longer in force)
• Imperial legislation (UK Laws applicable to the Virgin Islands)

The website also includes Bills.  A Bill is proposed legislation which has been introduced in the House of Assembly but has not yet been passed by the House of Assembly. A Bill is not Law.

Yes, all -

• Acts passed by the House of Assembly and Assented to by the Governor; and
• Subsidiary Legislation (Regulations, Rules, Notices, Orders, Bylaws and Proclamations) promulgated by the relevant authority

from 1 January, 2020 can be found on the laws.gov.vg. website. Legislation is uploaded within one week of its publication in the Gazette.

There is also an ongoing project to publish legislation passed before 1 January 2020 on the website.

You do not need permission to hyperlink to laws.gov.vg as long as there is no copying or hosting of the content on the website. This is because hyperlinking simply directs users to the original source which remains under the control of the publisher. It is a best practice to credit the source when providing the hyperlink and not to frame the content or make it appear as if you host or own it.

While legislation itself is typically not copyrighted, the official published versions of the law on this website have copyright protection.

You should contact the Attorney General’s Chambers for permission to reproduce or distribute the official text. agc@gov.vg 

A specific Act or Subsidiary Legislation or the amendment thereto may not appear on the website:

• if the legislation is part of the 1961 or 1991 Revised Edition of the Laws of the Virgin Islands;
• if the legislation was enacted prior to 2020 and has not yet been uploaded to the website;
• if the amending legislation has been incorporated into the Revised Edition of the principal legislation, the amendment legislation may not be available.

Please use the “email us”  link on the Homepage and let us see if we can help.

This information can be found in the Consolidated Index of the Laws of the Virgin Islands.  Laws are listed alphabetically, once you locate the Act in the Index you will find the chronologic listing of all amendments to that Act. All subsidiary legislation made in respect of the Act is also listed as well.

The website offers a full-text search feature that allows you to search and locate legislation relevant to your specific topic. For example, if you are looking for legislation related to banks, simply enter "bank" into the search bar and the system will return a list of legislation where that word appears within the full text of the document. 

However, the website may not provide an exhaustive result of all legislation in respect of a particular topic. It is not a substitute for legal advice.

The Constitution is the supreme law from which all the institutions of the Virgin Islands derive their authority. The Constitution also provides for the fundamental rights and freedoms of all citizens.

A Bill is a draft or proposal for a new law or an amendment to an existing law. It has no legal force and is not law. 

An Act is a Bill that has been passed by the House of Assembly and Assented to by the Governor, at which point, it becomes law and is enforceable (subject to any commencement provisions).

You can recognise an Act distinct from a Bill, as an Act will have the following features: 

• An Act number e.g., No 3 of 2025 appearing in the top left corner on the front page.
• The name of the Governor signifying that the Act has received Assent and the date of Assent appearing below the Act number on the front page.

• The names of the Speaker of the House of Assembly and Clerk of the House of Assembly signifying that the Act has been passed by the House of Assembly and the date on which the Act was passed appearing on the last page.

   

The main avenue for providing feedback on a Bill would be by making a submission to your elected representative, either District or At-Large, so that your concerns or views may be brought up during the debates or at Committee stage.

There may be instances where public consultation is invited, by way of town hall meetings, via the Government of the Virgin Island’s website or local media. These may be organized by the Ministry with responsibility for the Bill.

Subsidiary legislation, is a law made under the authority of an Act, called the parent Act. It is sometimes referred to as “delegated legislation” because the law-making power has been delegated to some other party (this can be the Governor, Cabinet, a Minister, or another authority) by the House of Assembly. The parent Act provides for the making of a specific type of legislation (Regulations, Rules, Notices, Orders, Bylaws and Proclamations) to do a specific thing (prescribe procedures, forms or fees etc.).

Revised Legislation is legislation that has been revised pursuant to the Law Revision Act, 2014. The revision process involves taking the original law and all the subsequent amendments to that law and firstly consolidating it into one document. It also involves making any other consequential changes to the law that may be applicable for e.g., where the name of an institution has been changed as occurred when the new Constitution came into force in 2007 renaming the Executive Council to Cabinet and the Legislative Assembly to the House of Assembly etc.  A revision does not change the substance or content of the law.

The website currently has the following Revised Editions of the Laws of Virgin Islands: 

• General Revision covering Criminal, Electoral, and Immigration Legislation as at 1st January 2013
• Financial Services Legislation as at 1st January 2020
• General Revision of miscellaneous Legislation as 1st January 2023 

There is an ongoing project to revise the Laws of the Virgin Islands. As each new Revised Edition is brought into force it will be added to the website.