Statute Law Revision Act


Statute Law Revision Act 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 law revision. Such Acts normally repealed legislation which was expired, spent, repealed in general terms, virtually repealed, superseded, obsolete or unnecessary. In the United Kingdom, Statute Law Acts are now passed instead. "Statute Law Revision Acts" may collectively refer to enactments with this short title.
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largest Statute Law Revision Act in any jurisdiction was the Statute Law Revision Act 2007 enacted in Ireland which repealed 3,225 previous Acts.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 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.

United Kingdom

Halsbury's Laws says that Statute Law Revision Acts are law reform Acts.
Under 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The scope of Statute Law Revision Bills is confined to the repeal of obsolete, spent, unnecessary or superseded enactments.
The Bill for the Statute Law Revision Act 1892 contains the following note, which describes the classes of enactments repealed by that Act. Certain other Statute Law Revision Bills contain similar notes as they repealed similar classes of enactments.
Enactments repealed by Statute Law Revision Acts include enactments which had become totally inoperative from having been impliedly repealed.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 the Repeal of Obsolete Statutes Act 1856 was the first Statute Law Revision Act.
The Promissory [Oaths Act 1871], the Civil Procedure Acts Repeal Act 1879, and the Master and Servant Act 1889 were expressed by their preambles to be passed for the purpose of statute law revision.

Scotland

The Statute Law Revision Acts 1952 and 1953 means the Statute Law Revision Act 1952 and the Statute Law Revision Act 1953.
The Statute Law Revision Acts 1952 to 1954 means the Statute Law Revision Acts 1952 and 1953, and the Statute Law Revision Act 1954.
The Short Titles Act 1951 and the Repeal of Unnecessary Laws Act 1953 also contribute to the revision of the statute book in Northern Ireland.

Isle of Man

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 Act 1888. The reason for its inclusion 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 a repealed Act. This was much broader than the general saving provisions that had been introduced in 1850 that applied to all repeals.
Although 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. 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.

Republic of Ireland

Pre-2005

The following statutes have been enacted under the Statute Law Revision Programme:

Federal legislation

  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1974
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1981
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1996
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2002
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2005
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2006
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2007
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2008
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2010
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2011

    Australian Capital Territory

  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1992
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1993
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1994
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1995
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1994
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1998

    New South Wales

  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1898
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1924
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1937
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1976
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1995

    Northern Territory

  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2005
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2007
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2008
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2009
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2010
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2011

    South Australia

  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2003
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2008

    Tasmania

  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1995
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2000
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2003

    Victoria

  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1891
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1893
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1916
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1929
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1930
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1933
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1934
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1937
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1939
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1940
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1941
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1947
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1948
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1951
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1953
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1955
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1957
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1959
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1960
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1961
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1962
  • The Statute Law Act 1962
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1963
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1964
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1965
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1971
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1977
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1980
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1981
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1982
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1983
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1984
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1995
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2005
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2007
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2011
Statute Law Revision Committee Act
  • The Statute Law Revision Committee Act 1916
  • The Statute Law Revision Committee Act 1948
  • The Statute Law Revision Committee Act 1953
  • The Statute Law Revision Committee Act 1955

    Western Australia

  • The Statute Law Revision Act 2006

    Barbados

  • The Statute Law Revision Act, 1893
  • The Statute Law Revision Act 1912

    Bermuda

  • The Statute Law Revision Act, 1902
  • The Statute Law Revision Act, 1907
  • The Statute Law Revision Act, 1953

    Canada

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