Introducing Knowa Lens: the law, on the day it mattered.

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A decision has a date. So does the law behind it.

When a trustee or adviser revisits an earlier decision, one of the first questions is what the legislation said at the time. A current version gives only part of that context. Understanding the history means finding the relevant wording, seeing what changed and tracing the amendments behind it.

Knowa Lens brings those steps into one reading view. Our new legislation demonstration shows how you can move to a chosen date, compare versions and explore the amendment timeline alongside the text.

Start with the date that matters

Select a date and read the legislation as it stood then. In the demonstration, Knowa Lens moves from a 2026 view of section 75 of the Pensions Act 1995 to the wording at 1 January 2004.

The date stays visible above the text. You can focus on a section and read it in a clean view, keeping the historical context in sight while you work through the wording.

See the changes in the text

Switch to the comparison view to see the differences between the selected dates. Mark-up distinguishes added and removed wording within the section, so you can follow a change where it belongs.

The film compares the 2004 and 2026 versions of the same section. Moving between clean text and mark-up gives you two ways to read: the wording at a point in time, and the changes between two points.

Follow the amendment trail

The timeline places the amendment history beside the legislation. Dated entries and links let you trace the changes shown in the text and return to the wording for a particular date.

That makes the reading process easier to follow and discuss. A trustee, secretary and adviser can begin with the same section, the same date and the same visible changes.

Bring the history into the conversation

Governance work often means returning to an earlier record: preparing for a meeting, reviewing past advice or helping a new colleague understand the background to a decision. The legislative context belongs in that conversation.

Knowa Lens gives that context a practical form: a date to select, wording to read and an amendment trail to explore. It supports the careful review and professional judgement that follow.