An Act to amend the National Anthem Act (gender)

How it changed on the way

48% of the text as introduced was changed or removed by the time it became law (134 words introduced, 134 passed).

minor changeintent kept

The bill's core amendment to make the anthem gender-neutral stayed exactly the same. Only dates, session numbers, and royal assent details were updated during passage.

• Header dates and years were extended to cover the full period until passage.

  Before: “C-210 1 42 64 Elizabeth II 2015-2016”

  After: “C-210 1 42 64-65-66-67 Elizabeth II 2015-2016-2017-2018”

How precisely it is written

preciseChallenging the law: HardDisputing a charge: Hard

The bill directly replaces the schedule containing the anthem lyrics with an updated version that substitutes specific words. No standards, discretion or interpretive tests are introduced.

Clear-cut

• “substitute the words “of us” for the words “thy sons””

  The operative change is stated as an exact word-for-word replacement with no qualifiers.

• “The schedule to the National Anthem Act is replaced by the schedule set out in the schedule to this Act.”

  The amendment mechanism is a complete textual substitution rather than a grant of power or subjective direction.

Discretion. No power is delegated to ministers, officials or regulations; the lyric change is enacted directly.

Challenging the law itself. The provision is a narrow, mechanical amendment to official text and engages no obvious Charter vagueness or overbreadth claims.

Disputing a charge under it. The enactment creates no duties or prohibitions, so there is no conduct that could be disputed as a breach.

Read by a language model from the royal assent text; every quoted phrase appears in the bill. A reading of the drafting, not legal advice.