An act of Tynwald is a statute passed by Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man.
Acts of Tynwald are structured in a similar format to Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Originally, each Act began with the following formula:
In later Acts, this was modernised as follows:
Modern-day Acts now omit this formula altogether.
Each Act has a long title, which summarises the purpose of the statute. An example from a Customs Act is:
The substantive provisions of the Act are preceded by an enacting formula, which is currently worded as follows:
Until 1 January 2008, a longer form of words was used:
In earlier Acts, commencing with the revestment of the island to the British Crown, the following form was used:
In modern times, Acts of Tynwald have specified a short title by which they may be cited for convenience; e.g. "Isle of Man Constitution Act 1961". Acts from the 1970s onwards can also be cited by year and chapter number; e.g. "1990 c. 3".
In British legislation, Acts of Tynwald are cited by the short title, with the addition of the text "(An Act of Tynwald)"; similarly, British legislation is referenced in Manx law by the short title and "(An Act of Parliament)".
The Isle of Man also has a form of delegated legislation, in the form of rules, orders and regulations made under authority of a particular Act of Tynwald. These can be either in an affirmative form (Tynwald must vote to bring them into effect), or a negative form (they will have effect unless one or more members of Tynwald seeks a vote on the matter).
, the government printer for Acts of Tynwald is The Copy Shop in Bucks Road, Douglas.