About Lex-Ray
Structured regulation — readable by humans, queryable by AI agents.
Lex-Ray turns EU and UK legislation from flat text into a live, linked, versioned map — every defined term wired to its definition, every cross-reference resolved, every amendment diffable, even where the UK and EU diverge. For lawyers, and for the AI agents now doing the reading.
What Lex-Ray does
Defined terms, resolved where you read them
Every defined term is linked to its definition, including where the definition sits in another act. You read what a term means without leaving the provision.
Cross-references you can follow
References to other articles, annexes and acts are resolved and clickable, so the chain a provision depends on is one click away rather than a search.
Every version, and what changed
Acts are held as versions over time, and versions can be compared, so you see what an amendment actually did to the text.
When a provision applies
Entry into force and application are different legal events, often years apart. Lex-Ray keeps them separate, provision by provision.
UK and EU, side by side
UK retained law is tracked alongside the EU original it came from, so where the two have diverged since exit, the divergence is visible.
The same law, for your AI agents
An API and an MCP server serve the structure your team reads — the enacted words with definitions and references resolved — so an assistant quotes the law rather than reconstructing it.
What makes Lex-Ray different
The two commencement dates, told apart
EUR-Lex records entry into force and application on the same metadata field. For about one in five EU regulations adopted between 2015 and 2024 that field carries several dates, and a naive read picks one arbitrarily. Lex-Ray reads the official notice that distinguishes them, checks the result against the act's own words, and shows a conflict rather than hiding it.
It says when it does not know
Where the version in force, or the date a provision applies, cannot be established from the sources, Lex-Ray says so. It does not guess and present the guess as law.
Borrowed definitions, substituted exactly
When one act defines a term by pointing at another, Lex-Ray substitutes the borrowed meaning at the exact reference, and only where both ends of that reference are confirmed. Otherwise it notes the reference and changes nothing.
The official words, never paraphrased
The text is the official text from EUR-Lex and legislation.gov.uk, verbatim, and every provision links back to its source. The structure is added around the words, never in place of them.
Built to be read by machines as well as people
An agent receives the provision with its definitions and references resolved into the answer, rather than a list of links it must go and follow itself.
Who uses Lex-Ray
- In-house legal and compliance teams in financial services and technology
- Data protection officers, and the roles the AI Act, DORA and NIS2 have created
- Regulatory lawyers in private practice
- Teams building AI agents that need the law as data, not as a document
How Lex-Ray works
- Sign up with an email address and start a free trial: 30 days of full Pro, no card needed.
- Nothing is charged unless you choose a plan and say yes.
- Pro is £50 per seat per month, on a rolling monthly plan you can cancel at any time, or annually with 2 months free.
- Firm-wide licensing is arranged directly — get in touch from the pricing page.
Key facts
- Name
- Lex-Ray
- What it is
- A structured-legislation platform: EU and UK law as linked, versioned data, for lawyers and for AI agents
- Coverage
- EU legislation (EUR-Lex) and UK legislation (legislation.gov.uk)
- Sold by
- Simmons & Simmons Solutions Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with number 11352445, whose registered office is at CityPoint, One Ropemaker Street, London EC2Y 9SS.
- Price
- £50 per seat per month. £50 per seat / month is the price. For individuals that is the total, VAT included. Business customers add VAT at the prevailing rate where it applies.
- Free trial
- 30 days of full Pro, no card needed
- Contract terms
- Monthly rolling, or annual; firm-wide licences
- Machine access
- API and MCP server, included in Pro. Agent guide: https://lexray.simmons-simmons.com/llms.txt
- Content licences
- Sources and licences: https://lexray.simmons-simmons.com/licences
- Official status
- Not an official source of law. The official publications govern.
- Website
- https://lexray.simmons-simmons.com/
Frequently asked questions
Who makes Lex-Ray, and who do I contract with?
Lex-Ray is sold by Simmons & Simmons Solutions Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with number 11352445, whose registered office is at CityPoint, One Ropemaker Street, London EC2Y 9SS. That company is the party to your subscription.
Is Lex-Ray an official source of law?
No. The official publications — EUR-Lex and legislation.gov.uk — are the authoritative sources, and every provision here links back to its own. Lex-Ray reproduces their words and adds structure around them; where it matters legally, the official text governs.
Which jurisdictions are covered?
EU and UK. EU law comes from EUR-Lex and UK law from legislation.gov.uk — including where UK law has diverged from the EU original since exit.
Is the text I am reading the version in force?
Lex-Ray records which version of an act produced the text it serves, and its machine renderings state as at what date, and on what basis, that text is current. Where currency cannot be established the answer is "unknown" — never a guess presented as the law.
Do I need a card to start?
No. The trial is 30 days of full Pro — no card, no billing details. You sign up with an email and start reading. We ask you to choose a plan on day 15, part-way through the trial, so that invoicing has time to run before it ends — and nothing is ever charged unless you say yes. Decline, or ignore it, and you keep the rest of the trial.
Is API access extra?
No. Pro includes API and MCP access, so your own tools and AI agents can query the same legislation you read — the enriched structure (definitions, cross-references, versions, commencement), not just raw article text. Fair-use volume limits apply per plan; high-volume programmatic access, bulk exports and machine-readable feeds are a separate premium module — talk to us about those.
Will it tell me whether I am compliant?
No — and be wary of anything that claims it can from the law alone. Lex-Ray gives you the law side of that job: the text in force today, what its terms mean including where another instrument defines them, and when each provision applies. Applying that to your facts stays your judgement (or your counsel’s) — we make the law side fast and reliable.
Does AI write the content?
No — the legal text is the official text, verbatim. Some analysis on the site is produced with the help of AI; where it is, it is marked as such, and the AI transparency notice explains how.
More on how AI is used and marked: AI transparency notice.