The World Bowls Laws Advisory Group (LAG), in conjunction with World Bowls Member National Authorities (MNAs), undertakes a comprehensive review of the Laws of the Sport on the same 4-yearly cycle as the Commonwealth Games. The last such review was held in 2014 – it led to the publication of the ‘Laws of the Sport of Bowls– Crystal Mark Third Edition’. (A review was not undertaken in 2018 because the board of World Bowls (WB) and MNAs felt that wholesale changes to the Laws were unnecessary at that time.)
In the period between reviews WB, the LAG and individual MNAs can propose revisions to the Laws whenever circumstances demand. Any such revisions are submitted to a biennial WB Council Meeting for approval. Revisions to the ‘Crystal Mark Third Edition’ were approved at each of the last two Council Meetings – in December 2016, April 2018 and June 2020 respectively. Revisions which are either awaiting approval or have been approved are recorded in the ‘WB Laws Decisions’ section under the ‘Laws and Umpiring’ link on the WB website until they are incorporated into the Laws of the Sport.
(Note that, in addition to revisions to the Laws, the ‘WB Laws Decisions’ section of the website contains the LAGs decisions on MNAs’ enquiries relating to the Laws – such as seeking clarification of the intent of a law and seeking guidance on the interpretation of a law.)
In 2021, a review was undertaken and the Crystal Mark Fourth Edition was approved at the Biennial WB Council Meeting in August 2022.
To download a copy of the ‘Crystal Mark Fourth Edition’ , click on the following link.
To download a copy of the revisions to the Fourth Edition, click on the following link.
Print-copies of the ‘Crystal Mark Fourth Edition’ will be available from your MNA.
The Laws allow MNAs to make regulations – called ‘Domestic Regulations’ (DRs) – to cover a number of aspects of the sport. They also allow Controlling Bodies to decide what Conditions of Play (COPs) are necessary to govern their competitions. Contact your MNA for details of these.
[Participants in the sport, therefore, should be in possession of a current version of the Laws. In addition, they should be in possession of a document containing the DRs and COPs produced by their MNA.]
Previous Editions
Previous editions of the Laws of the Sport Crystal Mark Edition can be downloaded from the links below:
