Statute law revision may refer to the printing of, or the editorial process of preparing, a

revised edition of the statutes A revised edition of the statutes is an edition of the Revised Statutes in the United Kingdom (there being more than one edition). These editions are published by authority. In 1861 the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the first of a long ...

, or to the process of

repeal A repeal (O.F. ''rapel'', modern ''rappel'', from ''rapeler'', ''rappeler'', revoke, ''re'' and ''appeler'', appeal) is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal; a repeal with a re-enactment is used to replace the law ...

ing obsolete enactments to facilitate the preparation of such an edition, or to facilitate the consolidation of enactments.

United Kingdom

History Revision of the statutes was regarded by the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

as desirable as early as 1563 (see the preamble to the 5 Eliz 1 c 4). It was demanded by a petition of the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...

in 1610. Both Coke and Bacon were employed for some time on a commission for revision. Halsbury's Laws said that the first Act for statute law revision (in the sense of repealing enactments which are obsolete, spent, unnecessary or superseded, or which no longer serve a useful purpose) was the 19 & 20 Vict c 64 (1856). Preparation etc. of revised editions of the statutes O. Hood Phillips defined statute law revision as "the reprinting of statute law with the omission of obsolete matter". Legislation.gov.uk uses the terms "revise", "revised" and "revision" to refer to the editorial process of incorporating amendments and carrying through other effects into legislation. Repeal of obsolete enactments The Law Commission said that statute law revision originally referred to the repeal of enactments which had become inoperative, in order to facilitate the preparation of a revised edition of the statutes. They said that they intended to adopt a more forceful approach by also repealing enactments which no longer served a substantial purpose, and that they hoped that this would also facilitate consolidation. Duty to prepare programmes of statute law revision It is the duty of the Law Commission to prepare from time to time at the request of the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

comprehensive programmes of statute law revision, and to undertake the preparation of draft Bills pursuant to any such programme approved by the Lord Chancellor. It is the duty of the

Scottish Law Commission The Scottish Law Commission is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It was established in 1965 to keep Scots law under review and recommend necessary reforms to improve, simplify and update the country's legal sy ...

to prepare from time to time at the request of the Scottish Ministers comprehensive programmes of statute law revision, and to undertake the preparation of draft Bills pursuant to any such programme approved by the Scottish Ministers. What legislation effects statute law revision In 1971, the Law Commission said that not all statute law revision was being done by

Statute Law Revision Bills 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 ...

Statute Law (Repeals) Bills Statute Law (Repeals) Act is a stock short title which is used for Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom whose purpose is to repeal enactments which are no longer of practical utility. These Acts are drafted by the Law Commission and the Sco ...

. They said that an example of this was the statute law revision effected by the

Theft Act 1968 The Theft Act 1968c 60 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of offences against property in England and Wales. On 15 January 2007 the Fraud Act 2006 came into force, redefining most of the offences of deceptio ...

Ireland

In the

law of the Republic of Ireland The law of Ireland consists of constitutional, statute, and common law. The highest law in the State is the Constitution of Ireland, from which all other law derives its authority. The Republic has a common-law legal system with a written const ...

, the

Law Reform Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

(LRC) is involved in several types of statute law revision: consolidation of dispersed statutes, repeal of dead statutes, and "restatement" (publication of revised, current versions) of amended statutes. As regards consolidation and repeal, the LRC only makes recommendations, which are implemented by act of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...

(parliament). The LRC's remit under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 is to make proposals for

law reform Law reform or legal reform is the process of examining existing laws, and advocating and implementing change in a legal system, usually with the aim of enhancing justice or efficiency. Intimately related are law reform bodies or law commissions, w ...

, defined as "its development, its codification (including in particular its simplification and modernisation) and the revision and consolidation of statute law". The Statute Law (Restatement) Act 2002, modelled on the schemes in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, empowers the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

to authorise official restatements, which do not have

force of law In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a p ...

but are

prima facie ''Prima facie'' (; ) is a Latin expression meaning ''at first sight'' or ''based on first impression''. The literal translation would be 'at first face' or 'at first appearance', from the feminine forms of ''primus'' ('first') and ''facies'' (' ...

evidence of the state of the law. After four pilot restatements, responsibility for restatements was transferred from the Attorney General's office to the LRC in 2006. The Attorney General's electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB) includes the text of all statutes as enacted, each of which links to the LRC's corresponding revised version where available; the LRC has restated 408 acts and two

statutory instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrument ...

s. Repeal of dead statutes falls under the

Statute Law Revision Programme The Statute Law Revision Programme is a project of the Law Reform Commission responsible for the preparation of Statute law revision Bills in Ireland. The Programme, previously known as the Statute law revision project, operated in the office of ...

, begun in 2003 in the Attorney General's office, transferred in 2012 to the

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform ( ga, An Roinn Caiteachais Phoiblí agus Athchóirithe) is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The department was established i ...

United Kingdom

Ireland

See also

References

Citations

Further reading

External links