The Statute Book is "the surviving body of
enacted legislation published by authority" in "a number of publications".
In England at the end of 1948, the Statute Book printed by authority consisted of the twenty-four volumes of ''The Statutes: Second Revised Edition'' and the thirty-three volumes of
Public General Act
In the United Kingdom an act of Parliament is primary legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
An act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Irelan ...
s published annually since 1920, making in all fifty-seven volumes.
In ''
A First Book of English Law
''A First Book of English Law'' is a book originally written by Owen Hood Phillips and subsequently edited by him and Anthony Hugh Hudson. It was published by Sweet and Maxwell. F.R. Crane praised it for its "lucidity, accuracy, brevity and read ...
'',
Owen Hood Phillips
Owen Hood Phillips, QC (30 September 1907 – 25 May 1986) was a British jurist. He was Lady Barber Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Birmingham and Dean of the Faculty of Law, Vice-Principal and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of that universit ...
said that there is no Statute Book.
John Baker said that "the statute book" was no closer to being a historical entity than "the"
register of writs was.
In autumn 1947, the
Statute Law Committee The Statute Law Committee was appointed for the purpose of superintending the publication of the first revised edition of the statutes in the United Kingdom. It also prepared the bills for Statute Law Revision Acts up to, and including, the Statut ...
was given terms of reference "to consider the steps necessary to bring the Statute Book up to date by
consolidation,
revision
Revision is the process of revising.
More specifically, it may refer to:
* Update, a modification of software or a database
* Revision control, the management of changes to sets of computer files
* ''ReVisions'', a 2004 anthology of alternate hi ...
, and otherwise".
[The Statutes Revised. Third Edition. HMSO. 1950. Volume I. Page x.]
References
Statutory law
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