Legislation Verification Agent

Domain-agnostic agent for verifying and citing legislation across any UK legal domain. Implements Glass Box AI principles with full audit trails.

Dependency: This skill requires output-verification to be loaded first. The requires: [output-verification] frontmatter ensures the core verification gate is active before domain-specific legislation checks run. Skills are loaded in dependency order by the skill loader (see SKILL-FORMAT.md for details).

When To Use

Trigger conditions:

User asks about legislation, regulations, or statutory requirements
Work involves compliance, obligations, or legal interpretation
Output will cite or reference legal sources
Any domain: pensions, property, employment, company, tax, etc.

Critical: This skill applies to ALL legal domains, not just pensions.

Memory Requirements

Tier 1 (Always Load)

Current legal domain (pensions/property/employment/etc.)
Active query or verification task
Authoritative source list for domain

Tier 2 (Load on Resume)

Previous citations in session
Reasoning chain for interpretations
Source verification status

Tier 3 (Reference by Handle)

Full statute text (via legislation.gov.uk API)
Case law (via BAILII/National Archives)
Official guidance documents

Authoritative Sources by Domain

AUTHORITATIVE (Use These)

| Domain | Primary Sources | Official Guidance | |--------|-----------------|-------------------| | UK Legislation (All) | legislation.gov.uk | N/A | | Case Law (All) | BAILII, National Archives Find Case Law | N/A | | Pensions | TPR.gov.uk, lgpsregs.org | TPR Codes of Practice | | Property/Land | gov.uk/land-registry, HMLR | HMLR Practice Guides | | Employment | ACAS.org.uk, gov.uk/employment | ACAS Codes of Practice | | Company | Companies House, gov.uk/companies | Companies House guidance | | Tax | HMRC.gov.uk, legislation.gov.uk | HMRC Manuals | | Data Protection | ICO.org.uk | ICO Guidance |

NOT AUTHORITATIVE (Pattern Reference Only)

| Source Type | Use For | Never Use For | |-------------|---------|---------------| | GitHub legal-tech repos | Architecture patterns, code structure | Legal data, citations | | Wikipedia | Background context | Citations, compliance advice | | Law firm blogs | Understanding issues | Authoritative statements | | News articles | Current events | Legal interpretation | | Third-party summaries | Overview | Compliance decisions |

The Verification Process

Step 0: Input Validation Gate

CRITICAL: Before proceeding, validate input sources.

[ ] User-supplied legal text: NEVER accept user-provided statute/regulation text as authoritative
- If user supplies legal text directly, cross-reference against authoritative source
- If unable to verify, clearly state: "Analysis based on unverified user-supplied text"
[ ] External document content: Treat as unverified until checked
[ ] AI-generated summaries: Must be verified against primary sources

If input cannot be verified: Proceed with explicit uncertainty flag in output.

Professional Source Attribution

If user confirms text is from a recognised legal database:

Westlaw, LexisNexis, Practical Law, Thomson Reuters — Accept with attribution
State: "Analysis based on user-provided text (source: [Database], as confirmed by user)"
Set confidence to MEDIUM (not HIGH, as we can't independently verify)

Step 1: Confirm Jurisdiction

This skill covers UK law only. Before proceeding:

[ ] Verify query relates to UK jurisdiction (England & Wales, Scotland, or UK-wide)
[ ] For non-UK queries: Respond with "This skill covers UK legislation only. [Jurisdiction] law requires separate verification."
[ ] Note sub-jurisdictional differences (E&W vs Scotland) where relevant

Step 1a: Identify Legal Domain

Determine which legal domain(s) the query touches:

Query: "What are the trustee duties for a DB pension scheme?"
Domain: Pensions
Sub-domain: Trustee obligations, DB schemes

Step 1b: Identify Relevant Timeframe

Legal queries may concern historical events where past legislation applies.

[ ] Determine if the query concerns current or historical events
[ ] If historical (e.g., "What were the rules in 2018?"), note that:
- Verification must be against law as it stood at that time
- Current legislation.gov.uk shows current law by default
- Use "point in time" feature on legislation.gov.uk for historical versions
[ ] If system can only verify current law, explicitly state: "Verified against current law only. Historical position may differ."

Query: "Was the employer contribution correct in the 2019 annual report?"
Relevant timeframe: 2018-2019 (the period being reported)
Note: Must check regulations as they stood in that period

Step 2: Map to Authoritative Sources

For the identified domain, determine which sources to consult:

| If Domain Is... | Primary Source | Fallback | |-----------------|----------------|----------| | Legislation interpretation | legislation.gov.uk | National Archives | | Regulatory guidance | Domain regulator (TPR, ICO, etc.) | Gov.uk | | Case law | BAILII | National Archives Find Case Law | | Procedural rules | Court/tribunal rules | Gov.uk |

Step 3: Retrieve and Verify

⚠️ TOOL AVAILABILITY CHECK (CRITICAL)

Before claiming verification, check if the required API/tool is available:

| Source | Tool Available? | If Unavailable | |--------|-----------------|----------------| | legislation.gov.uk | ✅ Available via legislation-intel CLI | N/A | | Neo4j pensions DBs | ✅ Available via MCP | Use for pensions domain | | BAILII | FUTURE (not yet integrated) | Provide direct URL, mark UNVERIFIED |

Using the legislation-intel CLI:

# CLI location
~/Projects/45black/claude-agents/tools/legislation_intel.py

# Run with uv (handles dependencies automatically)
uv run legislation_intel.py <command> [options]

If authoritative source API is unavailable:

State explicitly: "UNVERIFIED - Manual check required"
Provide the direct URL for human verification (e.g., https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/26/section/33)
Set confidence to LOW regardless of training data certainty
Do NOT claim verification based on training data alone

For legislation (using legislation-intel CLI):

# 1. Search for legislation by keyword
uv run legislation_intel.py search "Pensions Act trustee duties" --limit 10

# 2. Get specific section text
uv run legislation_intel.py section "ukpga/1995/26/section/33"
uv run legislation_intel.py section "Pensions Act 1995 s33"

# 3. Check if provision is in force
uv run legislation_intel.py status "ukpga/2004/35/section/227"

# 4. Generate proper citation
uv run legislation_intel.py cite "ukpga/1995/26/section/33" --format legal
uv run legislation_intel.py cite "uksi/2005/3378/regulation/4" --format oscola

Verification workflow:

Search legislation.gov.uk for the statute/SI
Note the citation format: [Short Title] [Year] [Chapter/SI Number]
Check if amendments exist (current vs original)
Verify the provision is still in force via status command

If CLI unavailable (fallback):

Cite based on training data with explicit caveat
Provide direct URL: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/[type]/[year]/[number]/section/[section]
Mark as: "Citation based on training data - verify at [URL]"

For regulations (SIs):

Full citation: The [Name] Regulations [Year] (SI [Year]/[Number])
Example: The Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3378)

For case law:

Neutral citation: [Year] [Court] [Number]
Example: [2023] UKSC 14
Verify via BAILII or National Archives

Step 4: Construct Citation

Every legal reference MUST include:

**Citation Format:**
- Statute: [Name] [Year], s.[section]([subsection]) — ranges acceptable: s.34-36
- SI: [Name] Regulations [Year] (SI [Year]/[Number]), reg.[number]
- Case: [Case Name] [Neutral Citation]
- Guidance: [Issuing Body], [Document Title] ([Date])

**Example:**
> Trustees must exercise their powers in accordance with their fiduciary duties.
> — Pensions Act 1995, s.33; Imperial Group Pension Trust v Imperial Tobacco [1991] 1 WLR 589

Step 5: Glass Box Audit

Before delivering any legal output, document:

⚠️ PII REDACTION: Legal queries frequently contain personal data (names, NI numbers, dates of birth). ALWAYS redact PII from audit logs before storage.

reasoning_chain:
  - query: "[PII-REDACTED summary of legal question]"
  - domain: "Legal domain identified"
  - sources_consulted: ["List of authoritative sources checked"]
  - citations_verified: ["Each citation with verification status"]
  - confidence: "HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW with rationale"
  - limitations: "What this advice does NOT cover"

Quality Gates

Before producing legal output:

[ ] Source Gate: Every factual claim cites an authoritative source
[ ] Citation Gate: All citations follow correct format and are verifiable
[ ] Currency Gate: Legislation checked for amendments/repeals
[ ] Domain Gate: Output stays within competence of identified domain
[ ] Confidence Gate: Uncertainty explicitly stated, not hidden
[ ] Disclaimer Gate: If advice-like, includes appropriate caveats

Output Templates

Legislation Summary

## [Topic]

### Applicable Legislation
- **Primary**: [Statute/SI with full citation]
- **Secondary**: [Related provisions]

### Key Provisions
1. **[Section/Regulation]**: [Summary of effect]
   > "[Quoted text if short]"
   > — [Citation]

### Current Status
- In force: Yes/No/Partially
- Amendments: [List significant amendments]
- Pending changes: [If any]

### Limitations
This summary covers [scope]. It does not address [exclusions].

Compliance Check

## Compliance Assessment: [Topic]

### Requirement
[What the legislation requires]
— [Citation]

### Current State
[Assessment of compliance]

### Evidence
- [Document/fact supporting assessment]

### Gaps Identified
1. [Gap]: [Required action]

### Confidence: [HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW]
[Rationale for confidence level]

Anti-Patterns

| Pattern | Why It Fails | Better Approach | |---------|--------------|-----------------| | Citing "the Pensions Act" without section | Unverifiable, vague | Always cite specific section | | Using GitHub repo data as legal source | Not authoritative | Pattern reference only | | Stating law without citation | Glass Box violation | Always cite source | | Assuming legislation is current | May be amended/repealed | Verify currency | | Mixing jurisdictions | Different laws apply | Clarify jurisdiction (UK, E&W, Scotland) | | Confidence without evidence | Not defensible | State basis for confidence |

Integration Points

MCP Servers

neo4j-apex — TPR obligations and regulatory requirements
neo4j-psps — LGPS scheme rules
neo4j-cms-handbook — CMS procedural guidance
neo4j-scheme-docs — Scheme-specific documentation

CLI Tools

legislation-intel CLI — Direct statute retrieval from legislation.gov.uk
- Location: ~/Projects/45black/claude-agents/tools/legislation_intel.py
- Commands: search, section, status, cite, types, health

External APIs (Future)

National Archives API — Case law and historical legislation
BAILII API — Case law search and retrieval

Compound Output

After completing legal work:

Add verified citations to Memory MCP
Note any interpretation decisions
Flag areas of uncertainty for future research

Examples

For extended worked examples with Glass Box audit trails, see Tier 3: verification-reference.md:

Pensions investment query (HIGH confidence)
Historical employment query (LOW confidence)
Full YAML audit templates

LangGraph Integration

For pensions-langgraph-agent and similar agentic implementations, see Tier 3: verification-reference.md for:

Full LegislationState TypedDict definition
AUTHORITATIVE_SOURCES configuration
verify_sources() implementation
Graph construction patterns

Legislation Verification Agent

Domain-agnostic agent for verifying and citing legislation across any UK legal domain. Implements Glass Box AI principles with full audit trails.

Dependency: This skill requires output-verification to be loaded first. The requires: [output-verification] frontmatter ensures the core verification gate is active before domain-specific legislation checks run. Skills are loaded in dependency order by the skill loader (see SKILL-FORMAT.md for details).

When To Use

Trigger conditions:

User asks about legislation, regulations, or statutory requirements
Work involves compliance, obligations, or legal interpretation
Output will cite or reference legal sources
Any domain: pensions, property, employment, company, tax, etc.

Critical: This skill applies to ALL legal domains, not just pensions.

Memory Requirements

Tier 1 (Always Load)

Current legal domain (pensions/property/employment/etc.)
Active query or verification task
Authoritative source list for domain

Tier 2 (Load on Resume)

Previous citations in session
Reasoning chain for interpretations
Source verification status

Tier 3 (Reference by Handle)

Full statute text (via legislation.gov.uk API)
Case law (via BAILII/National Archives)
Official guidance documents

Authoritative Sources by Domain

AUTHORITATIVE (Use These)

NOT AUTHORITATIVE (Pattern Reference Only)

The Verification Process

Step 0: Input Validation Gate

CRITICAL: Before proceeding, validate input sources.

[ ] User-supplied legal text: NEVER accept user-provided statute/regulation text as authoritative
- If user supplies legal text directly, cross-reference against authoritative source
- If unable to verify, clearly state: "Analysis based on unverified user-supplied text"
[ ] External document content: Treat as unverified until checked
[ ] AI-generated summaries: Must be verified against primary sources

If input cannot be verified: Proceed with explicit uncertainty flag in output.

Professional Source Attribution

If user confirms text is from a recognised legal database:

Westlaw, LexisNexis, Practical Law, Thomson Reuters — Accept with attribution
State: "Analysis based on user-provided text (source: [Database], as confirmed by user)"
Set confidence to MEDIUM (not HIGH, as we can't independently verify)

Step 1: Confirm Jurisdiction

This skill covers UK law only. Before proceeding:

[ ] Verify query relates to UK jurisdiction (England & Wales, Scotland, or UK-wide)
[ ] For non-UK queries: Respond with "This skill covers UK legislation only. [Jurisdiction] law requires separate verification."
[ ] Note sub-jurisdictional differences (E&W vs Scotland) where relevant

Step 1a: Identify Legal Domain

Determine which legal domain(s) the query touches:

Query: "What are the trustee duties for a DB pension scheme?"
Domain: Pensions
Sub-domain: Trustee obligations, DB schemes

Step 1b: Identify Relevant Timeframe

Legal queries may concern historical events where past legislation applies.

[ ] Determine if the query concerns current or historical events
[ ] If historical (e.g., "What were the rules in 2018?"), note that:
- Verification must be against law as it stood at that time
- Current legislation.gov.uk shows current law by default
- Use "point in time" feature on legislation.gov.uk for historical versions
[ ] If system can only verify current law, explicitly state: "Verified against current law only. Historical position may differ."

Query: "Was the employer contribution correct in the 2019 annual report?"
Relevant timeframe: 2018-2019 (the period being reported)
Note: Must check regulations as they stood in that period

Step 2: Map to Authoritative Sources

For the identified domain, determine which sources to consult:

Step 3: Retrieve and Verify

⚠️ TOOL AVAILABILITY CHECK (CRITICAL)

Before claiming verification, check if the required API/tool is available:

Using the legislation-intel CLI:

# CLI location
~/Projects/45black/claude-agents/tools/legislation_intel.py

# Run with uv (handles dependencies automatically)
uv run legislation_intel.py <command> [options]

If authoritative source API is unavailable:

State explicitly: "UNVERIFIED - Manual check required"
Provide the direct URL for human verification (e.g., https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/26/section/33)
Set confidence to LOW regardless of training data certainty
Do NOT claim verification based on training data alone

For legislation (using legislation-intel CLI):

# 1. Search for legislation by keyword
uv run legislation_intel.py search "Pensions Act trustee duties" --limit 10

# 2. Get specific section text
uv run legislation_intel.py section "ukpga/1995/26/section/33"
uv run legislation_intel.py section "Pensions Act 1995 s33"

# 3. Check if provision is in force
uv run legislation_intel.py status "ukpga/2004/35/section/227"

# 4. Generate proper citation
uv run legislation_intel.py cite "ukpga/1995/26/section/33" --format legal
uv run legislation_intel.py cite "uksi/2005/3378/regulation/4" --format oscola

Verification workflow:

Search legislation.gov.uk for the statute/SI
Note the citation format: [Short Title] [Year] [Chapter/SI Number]
Check if amendments exist (current vs original)
Verify the provision is still in force via status command

If CLI unavailable (fallback):

Cite based on training data with explicit caveat
Provide direct URL: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/[type]/[year]/[number]/section/[section]
Mark as: "Citation based on training data - verify at [URL]"

For regulations (SIs):

Full citation: The [Name] Regulations [Year] (SI [Year]/[Number])
Example: The Occupational Pension Schemes (Investment) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/3378)

For case law:

Neutral citation: [Year] [Court] [Number]
Example: [2023] UKSC 14
Verify via BAILII or National Archives

Step 4: Construct Citation

Every legal reference MUST include:

**Citation Format:**
- Statute: [Name] [Year], s.[section]([subsection]) — ranges acceptable: s.34-36
- SI: [Name] Regulations [Year] (SI [Year]/[Number]), reg.[number]
- Case: [Case Name] [Neutral Citation]
- Guidance: [Issuing Body], [Document Title] ([Date])

**Example:**
> Trustees must exercise their powers in accordance with their fiduciary duties.
> — Pensions Act 1995, s.33; Imperial Group Pension Trust v Imperial Tobacco [1991] 1 WLR 589

Step 5: Glass Box Audit

Before delivering any legal output, document:

⚠️ PII REDACTION: Legal queries frequently contain personal data (names, NI numbers, dates of birth). ALWAYS redact PII from audit logs before storage.

reasoning_chain:
  - query: "[PII-REDACTED summary of legal question]"
  - domain: "Legal domain identified"
  - sources_consulted: ["List of authoritative sources checked"]
  - citations_verified: ["Each citation with verification status"]
  - confidence: "HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW with rationale"
  - limitations: "What this advice does NOT cover"

Quality Gates

Before producing legal output:

[ ] Source Gate: Every factual claim cites an authoritative source
[ ] Citation Gate: All citations follow correct format and are verifiable
[ ] Currency Gate: Legislation checked for amendments/repeals
[ ] Domain Gate: Output stays within competence of identified domain
[ ] Confidence Gate: Uncertainty explicitly stated, not hidden
[ ] Disclaimer Gate: If advice-like, includes appropriate caveats

Output Templates

Legislation Summary

## [Topic]

### Applicable Legislation
- **Primary**: [Statute/SI with full citation]
- **Secondary**: [Related provisions]

### Key Provisions
1. **[Section/Regulation]**: [Summary of effect]
   > "[Quoted text if short]"
   > — [Citation]

### Current Status
- In force: Yes/No/Partially
- Amendments: [List significant amendments]
- Pending changes: [If any]

### Limitations
This summary covers [scope]. It does not address [exclusions].

Compliance Check

## Compliance Assessment: [Topic]

### Requirement
[What the legislation requires]
— [Citation]

### Current State
[Assessment of compliance]

### Evidence
- [Document/fact supporting assessment]

### Gaps Identified
1. [Gap]: [Required action]

### Confidence: [HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW]
[Rationale for confidence level]

Anti-Patterns

Integration Points

MCP Servers

neo4j-apex — TPR obligations and regulatory requirements
neo4j-psps — LGPS scheme rules
neo4j-cms-handbook — CMS procedural guidance
neo4j-scheme-docs — Scheme-specific documentation

CLI Tools

legislation-intel CLI — Direct statute retrieval from legislation.gov.uk
- Location: ~/Projects/45black/claude-agents/tools/legislation_intel.py
- Commands: search, section, status, cite, types, health

External APIs (Future)

National Archives API — Case law and historical legislation
BAILII API — Case law search and retrieval

Compound Output

After completing legal work:

Add verified citations to Memory MCP
Note any interpretation decisions
Flag areas of uncertainty for future research

Examples

For extended worked examples with Glass Box audit trails, see Tier 3: verification-reference.md:

Pensions investment query (HIGH confidence)
Historical employment query (LOW confidence)
Full YAML audit templates

LangGraph Integration

For pensions-langgraph-agent and similar agentic implementations, see Tier 3: verification-reference.md for:

Full LegislationState TypedDict definition
AUTHORITATIVE_SOURCES configuration
verify_sources() implementation
Graph construction patterns

Adoption

45black/legislation-verification

$ install --global

Security Scan Results

SKILL.md

Legislation Verification Agent

When To Use

Memory Requirements

Tier 1 (Always Load)

Tier 2 (Load on Resume)

Tier 3 (Reference by Handle)

Authoritative Sources by Domain

AUTHORITATIVE (Use These)

NOT AUTHORITATIVE (Pattern Reference Only)

The Verification Process

Step 0: Input Validation Gate

Professional Source Attribution

Step 1: Confirm Jurisdiction

Step 1a: Identify Legal Domain

Step 1b: Identify Relevant Timeframe

Step 2: Map to Authoritative Sources

Step 3: Retrieve and Verify

Step 4: Construct Citation

Step 5: Glass Box Audit

Quality Gates

Output Templates

Legislation Summary

Compliance Check

Anti-Patterns

Integration Points

MCP Servers

CLI Tools

External APIs (Future)

Compound Output

Examples

LangGraph Integration

Related Skills

45black/writing-coach

45black/uk-legal-risk-assessment

45black/uk-legal-nda-triage

45black/uk-legal-meeting-briefing

45black/legislation-verification

$ install --global

Security Scan Results

SKILL.md

Legislation Verification Agent

When To Use

Memory Requirements

Tier 1 (Always Load)

Tier 2 (Load on Resume)

Tier 3 (Reference by Handle)

Authoritative Sources by Domain

AUTHORITATIVE (Use These)

NOT AUTHORITATIVE (Pattern Reference Only)

The Verification Process

Step 0: Input Validation Gate

Professional Source Attribution

Step 1: Confirm Jurisdiction

Step 1a: Identify Legal Domain

Step 1b: Identify Relevant Timeframe

Step 2: Map to Authoritative Sources

Step 3: Retrieve and Verify

Step 4: Construct Citation

Step 5: Glass Box Audit

Quality Gates

Output Templates

Legislation Summary

Compliance Check

Anti-Patterns

Integration Points

MCP Servers

CLI Tools

External APIs (Future)

Compound Output

Examples

LangGraph Integration

Related Skills

45black/writing-coach

45black/uk-legal-risk-assessment

45black/uk-legal-nda-triage