The Statute Law Revision Act 2007 is an Act of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): ** Dáil Éireann ...

of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

which repealed a large amount of pre-1922 legislation of Ireland, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom while preserving a shorter list of statutes.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 Statute Law Revision Act (with its variations) is a stock short title which has been used in Antigua, Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Ghana, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom, for Acts with the purpose of statute l ...

or repealing measure ever enacted internationally.

Background

Prior to the 2007 Act, statute law revision had been sporadic since Irish independence in 1922. The

Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union Irish Statutes) Act 1962 The Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union Irish Statutes) Act 1962 (No 29) is an Act of the Oireachtas. The Act repealed various Acts of the pre-Union Parliament of Ireland, passed from 1459 to 1800, either wholly or in part, including the Crown of Ir ...

was one major such Act which repealed obsolete legislation of the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two ch ...

, 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 The Crown of Ireland Act 1542 is an Act passed by the Parliament of Ireland (33 Hen. 8 c. 1) on 18 June 1542, which created the title of King of Ireland for King Henry VIII of England and his successors, who previously ruled the island as Lor ...

), together with certain others from 1459 to 1800. Following this, 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 Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Act 2005 (No. 32 of 2005) is an Act of the Oireachtas. Section 1 of the Act, with the Schedule, repeals statutes of Ireland, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act r ...

Scope

The

Attorney General of Ireland The Attorney General of Ireland ( ga, An tArd-Aighne) is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does pa ...

examined 26,370 public general statutes enacted before the creation of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

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 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 Statute Law Revision Act 2009 is a Statute Law Revision Act enacted by the Oireachtas in Ireland to review Local and Personal Acts passed prior to 1850 and Private Acts passed prior to 1750. The Act repealed a large number of pre-1922 Local ...

. The number of Acts repealed in this one piece of legislation exceeded 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).

Acts repealed

Among the numerous acts repealed were

Poynings' Act 1495 An Act confirming all the Statutes made in England (10 Hen.7 c.22; short title Poynings' Law in Northern Ireland and Poynings' Act 1495 in the Republic of Ireland) is an act passed by the Parliament of Ireland which gave all statutes "late made ...

, the

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...

, the

Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 The Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 (12 & 13 Geo. 5 c. 4) was an Act of the British Parliament passed on 31 March 1922. It gave the force of law to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which was scheduled to the Act. Main provisions Section 1(1) of th ...

and the

Irish Free State Constitution The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,Great Charter of Ireland (or the Great Charter of Ireland) is an issue of the English ''Magna Carta'' (or Great Charter of Liberties) in Ireland. King Henry III of England's Charter of 1216 was issued for Ireland on 12 November 1216 but not transmitted to Ireland until ...

(the Irish version of

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by t ...

) and the

Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The ...

Act 1229. The

Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 An Act for the division of Meath into two shires (referred to in the modern Irish Statute Book as the Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543) was an Act of the Parliament of Ireland passed in 1542 which resulted in the division of County Mea ...

, which partitioned Meath in two, was also retained; as was the English

Bill of Rights 1688 The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England, which sets out certain basic civil rights and clarifies who would be next to inherit the Crown, and is seen as a crucial landmark in English constitutional law. It received Roya ...

, however it was partly repealed, including the provision that guaranteed

Protestants Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

the right to bear arms. The Marriage Act (No 2) 1537 was also retained and this retention has been the subject of academic criticism from Dr Maebh Harding.

Subsequent statute law revision programme

Following the 2007 Act, the Oireachtas enacted further legislation dealing with Local and Personal and Private Acts enacted pre-1922, the

and the

Statute Law Revision Act 2012 The Statute Law Revision Act 2012 (No 19) is a Statute Law Revision Act enacted by the Oireachtas in Ireland to review Local and Personal Acts passed from 1851 to 1922 and Private Acts passed from 1751 to 1922. The Act repealed a large number of p ...

Sources

Act and explanatory memorandum

References