The legislation.gov.uk alternative for the AI age.
Query 3,241 UK statutes -- from the UK GDPR and Computer Misuse Act to the Employment Rights Act, Companies Act, and more -- directly from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.
If you're building legal tech, compliance tools, or doing UK legal research, this is your verified reference database.
Built by Ansvar Systems -- Stockholm, Sweden
UK legal research is scattered across legislation.gov.uk, BAILII, and EUR-Lex retained EU law indexes. Whether you're:
- A lawyer validating citations in a brief or contract
- A compliance officer checking if a statute is still in force or has been amended post-Brexit
- A legal tech developer building tools on UK law
- A researcher tracing legislative history from Bill to Act
...you shouldn't need dozens of browser tabs and manual PDF cross-referencing. Ask Claude. Get the exact provision. With context.
This MCP server makes UK law searchable, cross-referenceable, and AI-readable.
Connect directly to the hosted version -- zero dependencies, nothing to install.
Endpoint: https://mcp.ansvar.eu/law-gb/mcp
| Client | How to Connect |
|---|---|
| Claude.ai | Settings > Connectors > Add Integration > paste URL |
| Claude Code | claude mcp add uk-law --transport http https://mcp.ansvar.eu/law-gb/mcp |
| Claude Desktop | Add to config (see below) |
| GitHub Copilot | Add to VS Code settings (see below) |
Claude Desktop -- add to claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"uk-law": {
"type": "url",
"url": "https://mcp.ansvar.eu/law-gb/mcp"
}
}
}GitHub Copilot -- add to VS Code settings.json:
{
"github.copilot.chat.mcp.servers": {
"uk-law": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://mcp.ansvar.eu/law-gb/mcp"
}
}
}npx @ansvar/uk-law-mcpClaude Desktop -- add to claude_desktop_config.json:
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
{
"mcpServers": {
"uk-law": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@ansvar/uk-law-mcp"]
}
}
}Cursor / VS Code:
{
"mcp.servers": {
"uk-law": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@ansvar/uk-law-mcp"]
}
}
}Once connected, just ask naturally:
- "What does the UK GDPR say about data subject rights?"
- "Is the Computer Misuse Act still in force?"
- "Find provisions about employment rights under the Employment Rights Act 1996"
- "What EU adequacy status does the UK hold post-Brexit?"
- "Which UK laws implement the equivalent of the NIS2 Directive?"
- "Get the text of Section 7 of the Data Protection Act 2018"
- "Compare data breach notification requirements across UK GDPR and DPA 2018"
- "Validate the citation 'Computer Misuse Act 1990, s.1'"
| Category | Count | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Statutes | 3,241 statutes | Acts of Parliament from legislation.gov.uk |
| Provisions | 512,651 sections | Full-text searchable with FTS5 |
| Case Law | 65,026 judgments | Premium tier -- court decisions and tribunal rulings |
| Preparatory Works | 3,838 documents | Explanatory Notes and Hansard references |
| Database Size | ~3,606 MB | Comprehensive SQLite, includes full provision text |
| Daily Updates | Automated | Freshness checks against legislation.gov.uk |
Verified data only -- every citation is validated against official sources (legislation.gov.uk). Zero LLM-generated content.
Verbatim Source Text (No LLM Processing):
- All statute text is ingested from legislation.gov.uk official sources
- Provisions are returned unchanged from SQLite FTS5 database rows
- Zero LLM summarization or paraphrasing -- the database contains statute text, not AI interpretations
Smart Context Management:
- Search returns ranked provisions with BM25 scoring (safe for context)
- Provision retrieval gives exact text by Act name and section number
- Cross-references help navigate without loading everything at once
Technical Architecture:
legislation.gov.uk API --> Parse --> SQLite --> FTS5 snippet() --> MCP response
^ ^
Provision parser Verbatim database query
| Traditional Approach | This MCP Server |
|---|---|
| Search legislation.gov.uk by Act name | Search by plain English: "data subject access request" |
| Navigate multi-part statutes manually | Get the exact provision with context |
| Manual cross-referencing between Acts | build_legal_stance aggregates across sources |
| "Is this statute still in force?" -- check manually | check_currency tool -- answer in seconds |
| Find EU alignment -- dig through retained EU law index | get_eu_basis -- linked EU instruments instantly |
| Check 5+ sites for amendments | Daily automated freshness checks |
| No API, no integration | MCP protocol -- AI-native |
Traditional: Search legislation.gov.uk --> Download PDF --> Ctrl+F --> Cross-reference with Explanatory Notes --> Check for amendments --> Repeat
This MCP: "What does the UK GDPR say about data subject rights and how does it differ from the EU GDPR?" --> Done.
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
search_legislation |
FTS5 search on 512,651 provisions with BM25 ranking |
get_provision |
Retrieve specific provision by Act name and section number |
validate_citation |
Validate citation against database (zero-hallucination check) |
build_legal_stance |
Aggregate citations from statutes, case law, and preparatory works |
format_citation |
Format citations per UK conventions (full/short/pinpoint) |
check_currency |
Check if statute is in force, amended, or repealed |
list_sources |
List all available statutes with metadata and data provenance |
about |
Server info, capabilities, dataset statistics, and coverage summary |
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
get_eu_basis |
Get EU instruments that UK statutes derive from or align with |
get_uk_implementations |
Find UK laws implementing or derived from a specific EU act |
search_eu_implementations |
Search EU documents with UK implementation and retention counts |
get_provision_eu_basis |
Get EU law references for a specific UK provision |
validate_eu_compliance |
Check UK implementation or adequacy status against EU directives |
The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020. The relationship between UK law and EU law is now one of adequacy and alignment, not membership.
| Topic | Status |
|---|---|
| EU Adequacy Decision | UK holds GDPR Article 45 adequacy decisions for England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Gibraltar (granted June 2021) |
| Retained EU Law | Significant body of EU-derived law was retained at exit under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, now progressively reviewed |
| UK GDPR | Near-identical to EU GDPR with UK-specific modifications -- the EU tools show alignment between UK GDPR and EU GDPR |
| NIS Regulations | UK implemented NIS before Brexit; UK NIS 2 equivalent under development |
The EU bridge tools in this MCP let you trace which UK statutes derive from EU directives, which provisions align with EU regulatory requirements, and where post-Brexit divergence has occurred.
Note: EU cross-references reflect derivation and alignment relationships. The UK is no longer subject to EU law, but understanding the EU origin of UK statutes is essential for cross-border compliance work.
All content is sourced from authoritative UK legal databases:
- legislation.gov.uk -- The official UK legislation database (National Archives)
- BAILII -- British and Irish Legal Information Institute (case law, premium tier)
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Authority | The National Archives / King's Printer |
| Retrieval method | legislation.gov.uk API |
| Language | English |
| License | Open Parliament Licence / Open Government Licence |
| Coverage | 3,241 Acts from legislation.gov.uk |
A daily GitHub Actions workflow monitors legislation.gov.uk for changes:
| Check | Method |
|---|---|
| Statute amendments | Drift detection against known provision anchors |
| New statutes | Comparison against legislation.gov.uk index |
| Repealed statutes | Status change detection |
Verified data only -- every citation is validated against official sources. Zero LLM-generated content.
This project uses multiple layers of automated security scanning:
| Scanner | What It Does | Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| CodeQL | Static analysis for security vulnerabilities | Weekly + PRs |
| Semgrep | SAST scanning (OWASP top 10, secrets, TypeScript) | Every push |
| Gitleaks | Secret detection across git history | Every push |
| Trivy | CVE scanning on filesystem and npm dependencies | Daily |
| Docker Security | Container image scanning + SBOM generation | Daily |
| Socket.dev | Supply chain attack detection | PRs |
| OSSF Scorecard | OpenSSF best practices scoring | Weekly |
| Dependabot | Automated dependency updates | Weekly |
See SECURITY.md for the full policy and vulnerability reporting.
THIS TOOL IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Statute text is sourced from legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives). However:
- This is a research tool, not a substitute for professional legal counsel
- Court case coverage is in the premium tier -- do not rely solely on this for case law research without the premium database
- Verify critical citations against primary sources for court filings
- EU cross-references reflect derivation and alignment, not current EU membership
- Northern Ireland has specific post-Brexit legal arrangements (Windsor Framework) that may not be fully reflected
Before using professionally, read: DISCLAIMER.md | PRIVACY.md
Queries go through the Claude API. For privileged or confidential matters, use on-premise deployment. See PRIVACY.md for Law Society compliance guidance.
For guidance from your bar association: The Law Society (England & Wales) | Law Society of Scotland | Law Society of Northern Ireland
- EU Integration Guide -- Detailed EU cross-reference documentation
- EU Usage Examples -- Practical EU lookup examples
- Security Policy -- Vulnerability reporting and scanning details
- Disclaimer -- Legal disclaimers and professional use notices
- Privacy -- Client confidentiality and data handling
git clone https://github.com/Ansvar-Systems/UK-law-mcp
cd UK-law-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm testnpm run dev # Start MCP server
npx @anthropic/mcp-inspector node dist/index.js # Test with MCP Inspectornpm run ingest # Ingest statutes from legislation.gov.uk
npm run build:db # Rebuild SQLite database
npm run drift:detect # Run drift detection against anchors
npm run check-updates # Check for amendments and new Acts- Search Speed: <100ms for most FTS5 queries
- Database Size: ~3,606 MB (comprehensive -- full UK statute corpus)
- Reliability: 100% ingestion success rate across 3,241 statutes
This server is part of Ansvar's Compliance Suite -- MCP servers that work together for end-to-end compliance coverage:
Query 49 EU regulations directly from Claude -- GDPR, AI Act, DORA, NIS2, MiFID II, eIDAS, and more. Full regulatory text with article-level search. npx @ansvar/eu-regulations-mcp
Query 3,241 UK statutes directly from Claude -- UK GDPR, DPA 2018, Computer Misuse Act, Employment Rights Act, and more. Full provision text with EU derivation cross-references. npx @ansvar/uk-law-mcp
Query US federal and state compliance laws -- HIPAA, CCPA, SOX, GLBA, FERPA, and more. npx @ansvar/us-regulations-mcp
Query 261 security frameworks -- ISO 27001, NIST CSF, SOC 2, CIS Controls, SCF, and more. npx @ansvar/security-controls-mcp
Query UNECE R155/R156 and ISO 21434 -- Automotive cybersecurity compliance. npx @ansvar/automotive-cybersecurity-mcp
Offline-capable sanctions screening -- OFAC, EU, UN sanctions lists. pip install ansvar-sanctions-mcp
70+ national law MCPs covering Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Sweden, Switzerland, and more.
Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
Priority areas:
- Court case law expansion (BAILII integration)
- Northern Ireland-specific legal provisions
- Scottish law divergence tracking
- Historical statute versions and amendment tracking
- Core statute database with FTS5 search
- Full corpus ingestion (3,241 statutes, 512,651 provisions)
- EU/international law alignment tools
- Vercel Streamable HTTP deployment
- npm package publication
- Daily freshness checks against legislation.gov.uk
- Premium case law (65,026 judgments)
- Premium preparatory works (3,838 documents)
- Northern Ireland Windsor Framework annotations
- Scottish law divergence markers
- Historical statute versions (amendment tracking)
- Welsh language provision coverage
If you use this MCP server in academic research:
@software{uk_law_mcp_2026,
author = {Ansvar Systems AB},
title = {UK Law MCP Server: Production-Grade Legal Research Tool},
year = {2026},
url = {https://github.com/Ansvar-Systems/UK-law-mcp},
note = {3,241 UK statutes with 512,651 provisions sourced from legislation.gov.uk}
}Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.
- Statutes: The National Archives (Open Parliament Licence / Open Government Licence)
- Case Law: BAILII (used under terms of service, premium tier)
- EU Metadata: EUR-Lex (EU public domain)
We build AI-accelerated compliance and legal research tools for the global market. This MCP server makes 3,241 UK statutes searchable from any AI client -- no browser tabs, no PDFs, no manual cross-referencing.
ansvar.eu -- Stockholm, Sweden
Built with care in Stockholm, Sweden