Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940

E105175

Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom wartime emergency legislation

The Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940 was a British wartime statute that expanded and renewed the government's authority to make defence regulations and exercise wide-ranging emergency powers during the Second World War.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Emergency Powers (Defence) (No. 2) Act 1940	3
Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940 canonical	3
Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1945	1
Fire Services (Emergency Provisions) Act 1941	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T873384 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940
Context triple: [Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939, relatedTo, Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940]

A. Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939
The Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 was a key piece of British wartime legislation that granted the government sweeping authority to make defence regulations and control many aspects of civilian life during World War II.
B. Military Training Act 1939
The Military Training Act 1939 was a British law that introduced peacetime conscription for young men on the eve of the Second World War.
C. National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939
The National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939 was a UK law that introduced full wartime conscription for military service at the outset of the Second World War.
D. Armed Forces Act
The Armed Forces Act is a key piece of UK legislation that governs the organization, discipline, and legal framework of the British Armed Forces.
E. Defence Regulations (United Kingdom)
Defence Regulations (United Kingdom) were a comprehensive set of wartime rules and controls enacted during and after the Second World War that granted the government wide-ranging powers over civilian life, the economy, and national security.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940
Target entity description: The Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940 was a British wartime statute that expanded and renewed the government's authority to make defence regulations and exercise wide-ranging emergency powers during the Second World War.

A. Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939
The Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 was a key piece of British wartime legislation that granted the government sweeping authority to make defence regulations and control many aspects of civilian life during World War II.
B. Military Training Act 1939
The Military Training Act 1939 was a British law that introduced peacetime conscription for young men on the eve of the Second World War.
C. National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939
The National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939 was a UK law that introduced full wartime conscription for military service at the outset of the Second World War.
D. Armed Forces Act
The Armed Forces Act is a key piece of UK legislation that governs the organization, discipline, and legal framework of the British Armed Forces.
E. Defence Regulations (United Kingdom)
Defence Regulations (United Kingdom) were a comprehensive set of wartime rules and controls enacted during and after the Second World War that granted the government wide-ranging powers over civilian life, the economy, and national security.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (44)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom ⓘ wartime emergency legislation ⓘ
amends	Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 ⓘ
appliesTo	Great Britain ⓘ Northern Ireland ⓘ
authorised	censorship and control of information related to defence ⓘ control of property and industry for the war effort ⓘ detention and restriction of persons for defence purposes ⓘ making of Defence Regulations by Order in Council ⓘ regulation of essential supplies and services ⓘ
category	Emergency laws in the United Kingdom ⓘ United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1940 ⓘ World War II law ⓘ
country	United Kingdom ⓘ
enabled	broad executive discretion in wartime administration ⓘ centralised wartime economic planning in the United Kingdom ⓘ
enactedBy	Parliament of the United Kingdom ⓘ linked to: British Parliament
era	20th‑century United Kingdom legislation ⓘ
extends	Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 ⓘ
government	Winston Churchill wartime coalition government ⓘ
grantedTo	His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom ⓘ linked to: His Majesty’s Government Privy Council acting by Order in Council ⓘ linked to: Privy Council
historicalSignificance	key legal foundation for British wartime emergency powers during World War II ⓘ
jurisdiction	United Kingdom ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
legalArea	emergency powers ⓘ national security law ⓘ wartime economic regulation ⓘ
legalSystem	common law ⓘ
legislativeBody	Parliament of the United Kingdom ⓘ linked to: British Parliament
purpose	to enable wide‑ranging control over persons, property and the economy for defence of the realm ⓘ to expand the British government’s authority to make defence regulations ⓘ to renew emergency powers granted at the outbreak of the Second World War ⓘ
relatedTo	Defence Regulations (United Kingdom) ⓘ Emergency Powers (Defence) (No. 2) Act 1940 ⓘ linked to: Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1940 Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 ⓘ
royalAssent	1940 ⓘ
status	spent ⓘ
subjectMatter	control of resources for military purposes ⓘ defence of the realm ⓘ public safety in time of war ⓘ
temporalContext	Second World War ⓘ linked to: World War II
timePeriod	World War II home front ⓘ
typeOfPower	delegated legislative power to the executive ⓘ

How these facts were elicited