Initial capitals

Few people have any difficulty with using initial capitals for the names of people (such as John Smith), places (such as London), and the days of the week and the months of the year (such as Monday and August).

Traditionally, the basic rule has been perfectly clear and straightforward. The key distinction lies in writing about institutions or offices generally and writing about specific examples of institutions or offices. In the former context, no initial capitals are used, while in the latter context they are. Applying this in practice, you would write ‘all governments tend to …’ but ‘the Government lost a vote of confidence yesterday’. Or, ‘most twentieth century prime ministers said …’ but ‘the Prime Minister said … ’

Clear though this distinction is, there is no doubt that it is much less commonly observed now than it used to be, with the result that many people (including journalists writing for what have traditionally been called ‘quality newspapers’) will happily write, for example, act of parliament. However, lawyers are not bound by the style guides of newspapers and you should always write Act of Parliament.