Press Release
Sweeping out the Statute Book
29 January 2008
The statute book is cluttered with dead law. Obsolete provisions, which have long ceased to mean anything, continue to masquerade as live law.
The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission are committed to modernising the statute book and will present a report to Parliament today with proposals for repeal.
Sir Terence Etherton, Chairman of the Law Commission for England and Wales, and James Drummond Young, Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission, said, “Dead law can lead to false expectations and consequent costs. People need to be clear about what is in force and what is not, and an oversized statute book filled with out-of-date information wastes everybody’s time.
As part of our drive to modernise and simplify the law we want to rid the statute book of meaningless provisions from days gone by which are no longer relevant in our modern world.”
The 18th Statute Law (Repeals) Bill, which will be presented to Parliament shortly, will repeal 260 whole Acts and part repeal 68 other Acts. The Bill covers a diverse range of subjects, from turnpikes to workhouses, from county gaols and tax to an old channel tunnel initiative. The earliest repeal is from 1695 (London to Harwich Roads Act) and the latest is part of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. A more detailed list is attached.
These repeal proposals were developed through a rigorous research and consultation process. All those potentially affected by the repeal of the provisions were given the opportunity to contribute views.
For further details on the Commissions’ Statute Law Repeals work go to http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/statute.htm and http://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk/html/cpslr.htm.
LIST OF REPEALS
Repeal of obsolete laws relating to London workhouses including the workhouse at Wapping mentioned by Charles Dickens in The Uncommercial Traveller
Proposals on criminal law repeals including an Act of 1819 passed following the Peterloo Massacre of that year when 11 people were killed in Manchester
Repeal of obsolete laws on the police including a law of 1839 requiring street musicians to leave the area if required to do so by irritated householders
Repeal of 40 Acts dating from 1700 for building local prisons across 19 counties in England and Wales
Repeal of 12 obsolete Acts relating to the former East India Company
Repeal of obsolete laws on turnpikes dating back to a time when roads were maintained locally, with travellers having to pay a toll to cross a turnpike.
For further details see http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/statute.htm
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