What is "command paper"

n. (context UK English) A document issued by the government and presented to Parliament.

A command paper is a document issued by the British government and presented to Parliament. White papers, green papers, treaties, reports from Royal Commissions and various government bodies can all be released as command papers, so called because they are presented to Parliament formally 'By Her Majesty's Command'.

Command papers are numbered. Since 1870 they have been prefixed with an abbreviation of 'command' which has changed over time to allow for new sequences.

width=10%| Prefix

width=15% | Dates

width=30% | Numbers

1833–1869

1 to 4222

C.

1870–1899

C.1 to C.9550

Cd.

1900–1918

Cd.1 to Cd.9239

Cmd.

1919–1956

Cmd.1 to Cmd.9889

Cmnd.

1956–1986

Cmnd.1 to Cmnd.9927

Cm.

1986–

Command Papers are published by TSO (The Stationery Office) for OPSI (The Office of Public Sector Information).