Statute Law Repeals
Team members:
John Saunders (Team manager)
Jonathan Teasdale (lawyer)
Heather Murphy (research assistant)
Carmen McFarlane (secretary)
The purpose of statute law repeals
In reforming the law, the Law Commission does not just propose new laws. It also proposes the repeal of laws that have become obsolete.
The purpose of our statute law repeals work is to modernise and simplify the statute book, reduce its size and save the time of lawyers and others who use it. This in turn helps to avoid unnecessary costs. It also stops people being misled by obsolete laws that masquerade as live law. If an Act still features in the statute book and is referred to in text books, people reasonably enough assume that it must mean something.
Implementation of our repeal proposals is by means of special Statute Law (Repeals) Bills. 18 such Bills have been enacted since 1965 repealing more than 2500 Acts in their entirety.
Of course, this is a huge task and there are many ancient laws and legal curiosities that are still in use today.
Our latest report
The most recent Statute Law Repeals Report (the 18th report in the series) was published on 29 January 2008. A draft Bill to give effect to the repeal proposals contained in the report was included. The Bill was approved by Parliament without amendment. The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2008 came into force at Royal Assent on 21 July 2008. A press release is available.
Latest consultations
- Lotteries. Further information is available. The closing date for comments is 12/04/10.
- Courts and Administration of Justice. Further information is available. The closing date for comments is 29/01/10.
Future projects
- Turnpikes
- Criminal law
Closed consultations
- City of Dublin. Further information is available.
- Poor Relief. Further information is available.
- Abortive Railway Projects. Further information is available.
- Railways - Rates and Charges. Further information is available.
Further background information is available about the process of repealing obsolete laws.
Further information
For further information, please contact the Statute Law Repeals team.
NOTE - We are happy to provide information about our projects. However, we cannot give legal advice or deal with individual cases. Nor do we provide legal research to assist with student assignments. This does not affect your rights under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request information.