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44-720: The single largest Statute Law Revision Act in any jurisdiction was the Statute Law Revision Act 2007 enacted in Ireland which repealed 3,225 previous Acts. The Statute Law Revision programme commenced in Ireland in 2003 which has resulted in six Statute Law Revision Acts to date (see below) and the express repeal of a total of around 8,000 Acts is the largest statute law revision programme carried out internationally. Statute Law Revision Acts are sometimes referred to as expurgation Acts . Halsbury's Laws says that Statute Law Revision Acts are law reform Acts . Under

88-483: A clause providing that "This Act may be amended or repealed in the present session of Parliament". This was thought to be necessary because all acts of a session were passed simultaneously on the first day of that session until 1793, and the House of Commons had a rule by which decisions of the whole house could not be reversed in the same session. Section 11 of the act provided that where an act passed after 1850 repeals

132-492: A digest of the statutes, which was declared "very expedient to be done." However, this was never done. In 1850, the Interpretation Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 21) was passed, which consolidated previous acts of parliament relating to statutory construction and simplify the language used in acts of parliament . At the start of the parliamentary session in 1853, Lord Cranworth announced his intention to

176-400: A repealed Act. This was much broader than the general saving provisions that had been introduced in 1850 that applied to all repeals. The enactments described in the schedule to this Act are hereby repealed, subject to the provisions of this Act and subject to the exceptions and qualifications in the said schedule mentioned ; and every part of a title, preamble, or recital specified after

220-447: A repealing enactment, it shall not revive any enactments, unless words are added reviving that enactment. Section 11 of the act also provided that where an act passed after 1850 substitutes provisions for an enactment, the repealed enactment shall remain in force until the substituted provisions come into operation. Section 11(1) reflected section 5 of Interpretation Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 21). Under common law , once an act

264-401: A substantive enactment without introductory words. This reflected section 2 of Interpretation Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 21). Previously, many acts of parliament, including this act, would prefix each section with a clause such as "And be it further enacted", "provided always" or "Provided always and it be enacted." Section 9 of the act provided that all acts passed after 1850 shall

308-430: Is a public act to be judicially noticed as such, unless the contrary intention appears. This reflected section 7 of Interpretation Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 21). Section 10 of the act provided that any act may be altered, amended or repealed in the same session of parliament. This reflected section 2 of Interpretation Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 21). Previously, most acts of parliament would included

352-576: Is or can be appointed", unless the contrary intention appears. Section 5 of the act was repealed by section 69(1) of, and schedule 8 to, the Rating and Valuation Act 1925 ( 15 & 16 Geo. 5 . c. 90), as to England and Wales , except as to the administrative county of London and Isles of Scilly (ss. 70(1) and (2)). This section was repealed as to the Isles of Scilly by the Isles of Scilly Order 1927 ( SR&O 1927 /59), p. 1500. Section 6 of

396-496: The House of Commons on 14 August 1889, and was unopposed by the government. The bill was committed to a Committee of the Whole House , which met on 24 August 1889 and reported on 26 August 1889, with amendments. The amended bill had its third reading in the House of Commons on 26 August 1889 and passed, with amendments. The amended bill was considered and agreed to by the House of Lords on 27 August 1889. The bill

440-483: The Interpretation Act 1889 greatly expanded the 1850 general saving provision, the Westbury saving continued to be inserted into Statute Law Revision Acts, as the 1889 act did not provide that any principle of law or court jurisdiction arising under an act would be retained on its repeal. However, the Westbury saving's complexity and wide reach gave it a reputation for making the law uncertain and inaccessible (due to

484-672: The Interpretation Act 1978 . In the Republic of Ireland , the application of the Interpretation Act 1889 was restricted to pre-1924 legislation by the Interpretation Act 1923, and repealed by the Interpretation Act 2005. In the United Kingdom , acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed. Blackstone 's Commentaries on the Laws of England , published in the late 18th-century , raised questions about

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528-499: The Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978 . Section 14 of the act provided that the expression "rules of the court" when used in relation to any court shall mean "rules made by the authority having for the time being power to make rules or orders regulating the practice and procedures of such court", and as regards Scotland include " acts of adjournal and acts of sederunt ", unless the contrary intention appears. Section 15 of

572-625: The Mayor of Dublin Act 1229 . The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 , which partitioned Meath in two, was also retained; as was the English Bill of Rights 1688 , however it was partly repealed, including the provision that guaranteed Protestants the right to bear arms . The Marriage (No. 2) Act 1537 (28 & 29 Hen. 8. c. 17 (I)) was also retained and this retention has been the subject of academic criticism from Dr Maebh Harding. Following

616-662: The Repeal of Obsolete Statutes Act 1856 ( 19 & 20 Vict. c. 64) was the first Statute Law Revision Act. The Promissory Oaths Act 1871 ( 34 & 35 Vict. c. 48), the Civil Procedure Acts Repeal Act 1879 ( 42 & 43 Vict. c. 59), and the Master and Servant Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 24) were expressed by their preambles to be passed for the purpose of statute law revision. The Statute Law Revision Acts (Northern Ireland) 1952 and 1953 means

660-701: The Statute Law Revision Programme : Statute Law Revision Committee Act Statute Law Revision Act 2007 The Statute Law Revision Act 2007 is an Act of the Oireachtas of the Republic of Ireland which repealed a large amount of pre-1922 legislation of Ireland, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom while preserving a shorter list of statutes. The Act was the largest single Statute Law Revision Act or repealing measure ever enacted internationally. Prior to

704-680: The 2007 Act, statute law revision had been sporadic since Irish independence in 1922. The Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union Irish Statutes) Act 1962 was one major such Act which repealed obsolete legislation of the Parliament of Ireland , which had provided that the Kings of England should be Kings of Ireland (from 1951 called in Northern Ireland the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 ), together with certain others from 1459 to 1800. Following this,

748-512: The 2007 Act, the Oireachtas enacted further legislation dealing with Local and Personal and Private Acts enacted pre-1922, the Statute Law Revision Act 2009 and the Statute Law Revision Act 2012 . Interpretation Act 1889 The Interpretation Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 63) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated enactments relating to statutory construction and provided definitions to shorten

792-559: The Act and were listed in Schedule 2, some of which were in any case by then unconstitutional. The Act repealed all public general statutes enacted before 6 December 1922, listed or not, except for 1,364 explicitly in Schedule 1 of the Act; these were given short names where they did not already have them. Private, local or personal Acts remained in force, with many of these repealed in the Statute Law Revision Act 2009 . The number of Acts repealed in this one piece of legislation exceeded

836-685: The Commission were implemented by the Repeal of Obsolete Statutes Act 1856 ( 19 & 20 Vict. c. 64). On 17 February 1860, the Attorney General , Sir Richard Bethell told the House of Commons that he had engaged Sir Francis Reilly and A. J. Wood to expurgate the statute book of all acts which, though not expressly repealed, were not in force, working backwards from the present time. From 1860 to 1889, Statute Law Revision Acts were passed to repeal enactments which had ceased to be in force or had become necessary, substantially reducing

880-644: The Interpretation Act 1978, or to the corresponding provision of the Interpretation Act 1978, as it applies to Acts passed at the time of the reference. The Interpretation Act 1889, except section 5 thereof (which related to the meaning of "parish") applied to the Interpretation Measure 1925 , and to all measures passed by the Church Assembly after that measure, in like manner as it applied to an act of Parliament , and as if that measure and those measures were acts of Parliament. In 1978,

924-593: The Statute Law Revision Act (Northern Ireland) 1952 and the Statute Law Revision Act (Northern Ireland) 1953. The Statute Law Revision Acts (Northern Ireland) 1952 to 1954 means the Statute Law Revision Acts (Northern Ireland) 1952 and 1953, and the Statute Law Revision Act (Northern Ireland) 1954. The Short Titles Act (Northern Ireland) 1951 and the Repeal of Unnecessary Laws Act (Northern Ireland) 1953 also contribute to

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968-591: The Statute Law Revision Act 1892 contains the following note, which describes the classes of enactments repealed by that Act. Certain other Statute Law Revision Bills contain similar notes as they repealed similar classes of enactments. The schedule is intended to comprise (as the preamble to the Bill states) enactments which have ceased to be in force, otherwise than by express specific repeal, and also such parts of titles, preambles, recitals, and enacting words as are unnecessary and intended to be omitted in future editions of

1012-721: The Statute Law Revision Act 1983 was the last major Act repealing pre-1922 statutes before the current phase of statute law revision, which commenced in 2003 and which also saw the enactment of an initial Act, the Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Act 2005 . The Attorney General of Ireland examined 26,370 public general statutes enacted before the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. Of these 9,219 were already wholly repealed prior to 1 May 2007, and 12,562 were not applicable to Ireland. This left 4,589 statutes still in force, of which 3,225 were to be repealed by

1056-485: The Statutes under the authority of the Bill. Enactments repealed by Statute Law Revision Acts include enactments which had become totally inoperative from having been impliedly repealed . The following list includes any Act the short title of which includes the words "statute law revision", without prejudice to suggestions that some of these Acts are not actually Statute Law Revision Acts. Courtenay Ilbert said that

1100-583: The act provided definitions of the word "borough" for every past and future act, unless the contrary intention appears. Section 15(3) was repealed by section 80(7) of, and Schedule 13 to, the Representation of the People Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6 . c. 65). In section 15(4), the words from "and" onwards were repealed by section 80(7) of, and Schedule 13 to, the Representation of the People Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 6 . c. 65). Section 16 of

1144-511: The act provided that for all acts or orders of council after 1850, the word "county court" as respects England and Wales shall mean a court under the County Courts Act 1888 ( 51 & 52 Vict. c. 43), unless the contrary intention appears. Section 7 of the act provided that for all acts relating to Scotland , unless the contrary intention appears: Section 8 of the act provided that every section of an act shall have effect as

1188-401: The act provided that for all acts passed after 1850, the word "county" shall be construed as including a "county of a city and a county of a town", unless the contrary intention appears. Section 5 of the act provided that for all acts passed after 1850, the word "parish" as respects England and Wales shall mean a "place for which a poor rate is or can be made, or for which a separate overseer

1232-409: The act provided that the word "person" should include body corporates unless the contrary intention appears and that penalties are also able to be paid to body corporates. Section 3 of the act provided definitions of words in all acts passed after 1850, unless the contrary intention appears: This section reflected section 4 of the Interpretation Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 21). Section 3

1276-497: The act was wholly repealed by the Interpretation Act 1978 , which implemented recommendations by the Law Commission . Section 1 of the act provided that for all acts passed after 1850, unless the contrary intention appears: This reflected section 4 of Interpretation Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 21). Section 1(1) of the act was updated in the Interpretation Act 1978 to work operate both ways. Section 2(2) of

1320-517: The contrary intention appears. Section 13 provided judicial definitions of all past and future acts, unless the contrary intention appears. Section 13 was amended for Ireland by sections 38 to 43, 46, 47 and 49 of, and schedule 7 to, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 ( 10 & 11 Geo. 5 . c. 67). In this section, paragraphs (4), (5) and (14) as they applied to Northern Ireland were repealed by section 122(2) of, and Part I of Schedule 7 to,

1364-455: The fact that the repealed provisions would not be included in any revised edition of the statutes ). As a result, it was not included in any Act after the Statute Law Revision Act 1953 , as any extension beyond the provisions of the 1889 act was considered undesirable. Although the 1889 Act has now been repealed, its general saving provision has been incorporated into the Interpretation Act 1978 . The following statutes have been enacted under

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1408-818: The improvement of the statute law and in March 1853, appointed the Board for the Revision of the Statute Law to repeal expired statutes and continue consolidation, with a wider remit that included civil law. The Board issued three reports, recommending the creation of a permanent body for statute law reform. In 1854, Lord Cranworth appointed the Royal Commission for Consolidating the Statute Law to consolidate existing statutes and enactments of English law . The Commission made four reports. Recommendations made by

1452-434: The language used in acts of Parliament . In Northern Ireland, Section 48(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 provided that without prejudice to 48(1) of that act, the Interpretation Act 1889 was to cease to apply to the interpretation of enactments. The whole Act, except paragraphs (4), (5) and (14) of section 13 in their application to Northern Ireland, was repealed by section 25(1) of, and Schedule 3 to,

1496-696: The number of public general Acts passed after 6 December 1922 (the start of the Irish Free State) up to 1 May 2007 (3,189). Among the numerous acts repealed were Poynings' Act 1495 , the Government of Ireland Act 1920 , the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 and the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 . Among the older acts retained were the Great Charter of Ireland (the Irish version of Magna Carta ) and

1540-582: The revision of the statute book in Northern Ireland. The following Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom repealed enactments extending to the Isle of Man: The Westbury saving, named for its proponent Lord Westbury , was an increasingly complex saving provision that was included in all Statute Law Revision Acts from 1861 until 1953, and which reached its final standardised form in the Statute Law Revision (No. 2) Act 1888 . The reason for its inclusion

1584-543: The standing orders of both Houses of Parliament, Statute Law Revision Bills must be referred to the Joint Committee on Consolidation etc. Bills . The Statute Law Committee prepared the Bills for Statute Law Revision Acts up to, and including, the Statute Law Revision Act 1966. The scope of Statute Law Revision Bills is confined to the repeal of obsolete, spent , unnecessary or superseded enactments. The Bill for

1628-637: The system and structure of the common law and the poor drafting and disorder of the existing statute book . In 1806, the Commission on Public Records passed a resolution requesting the production of a report on the best mode of reducing the volume of the statute book. From 1810 to 1825, The Statutes of the Realm was published, providing for the first time the authoritative collection of acts. In 1816, both Houses of Parliament, passed resolutions that an eminent lawyer with 20 clerks be commissioned to make

1672-549: The volume of the statute book . The bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 27 May 1889, introduced by the Lord Chancellor , Hardinge Giffard, 1st Baron Halsbury . The bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 24 June 1889 and was committed to the Standing Committee for Bills relating to Law, &c. which met and reported on 27 June 1889, with amendments. The amended bill

1716-467: The words "in part, namely," in connexion with an Act mentioned in the said schedule may be omitted from any revised edition of the statutes published by authority after the passing of this Act, and there may be added in the said edition such brief statement of the Acts, officers, persons, and things mentioned in the title, preamble, or recital, as may in consequence of such omission appear necessary: Although

1760-450: Was as a precautionary measure, intended to prevent any substantive changes to the law arising out of any repeals and to confine the Acts to the administrative function of clearing dead wood from the statute book. As well as explicitly preventing any repeal from affecting the interpretation of any statute still in force, it also retained any right, benefit, claim, liability, principle of law and court jurisdiction that had previously arisen under

1804-431: Was committed to a Committee of the Whole House , which met and reported on 23 July 1889, without amendments. The amended bill had its third reading in the House of Lords on 26 July 1889 and passed, without amendments. The bill in the House of Commons on 3 August 1889. The bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 1 May 1889, presented by George Howell MP . The bill had its second reading in

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1848-581: Was granted royal assent on 30 August 1889. Section 41 and the schedule were repealed by section 1 of, and the schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1908 ( 8 Edw. 7 . c. 49). Without prejudice to section 17(2)(a) of the Interpretation Act 1978 , a reference to the Interpretation Act 1889 or to any provision of that act, whether occurring in another act, in subordinate legislation , in Northern Ireland legislation or in any deed or other instrument or document, must be construed as referring to

1892-452: Was repealed it was treated as if it had never been treated, with the exception of acts past and closed. Section 11(2) reflected section 6 of Interpretation Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 21). This was designed to save words in the commencement section, but has little relevance to modern legislation in which repeals are synchronised with replacements. Section 12 of the act provided official definitions of all past and future acts, unless

1936-633: Was updated in the Interpretation Act 1978 to be appropriate for Scotland and reflect modern definitions of land, including in the Town and Country Planning Act 1971 , Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1972 and the Community Land Act 1975 , which covered buildings and structures, lakes, rivers and foreshore, particular estates or interests in land and easements ( servitudes in Scotland ) and other rights over and in land. Section 4 of

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