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SELECT COMMITTEE ON FINANCE AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE debate -
Tuesday, 20 Oct 2009

Statute Law Revision Bill 2009: Committee Stage.

This meeting has been convened for the purpose of consideration of the Statute Law Revision Bill 2009. I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Deputy Pat Carey, and his officials.

SECTION 1.

Question proposed: "That section 1 stand part of the Bill."

The Bill's principal purpose is to repeal all local and personal Acts enacted prior to 1851 and all private Acts enacted prior to 1751 with the exception of a white list of Acts specifically preserved.

Section 1 provides the definitions of "local and personal Act", "private Act" and "relevant statute". The definitions distinguish the Acts covered by this Bill from the public general Acts which have been dealt with by the Statute Law Revision Act 2007 and are not affected by this Bill. This Bill relates only to Acts and does not have any impact on charters of a local and personal or private nature.

Question put and agreed to.
SECTION 2.
Question proposed: "That section 2 stand part of the Bill."

Section 2, the Bill's central provision, provides for the fundamental clarification and simplification of the Statute Book by expressly repealing all local and personal Acts up to and including 1850 and all private Acts up to and including 1750, with two exceptions which are specified in section 2(2)(a) and (b).

Section 2(2)(a) excludes all Acts specified in Schedule 1 from the ambit of the repealing provision. This has the effect of preserving those Acts as in force. These Acts have, or may have, modern relevance and, therefore, are not suitable for repeal in the absence of first being replaced by modern legislation.

Section 2(2)(b) excludes all Acts specified in Schedule 1 of the Statute Law Revision Act 2007 that are still in force from the operation of the repealing provision. While these Acts have already been retained by the Statute Law Revision Act 2007, it is necessary to include reference to them in this Bill to ensure the two Acts dovetail and cover all categories of Acts, including those which are listed as public and private Acts.

Section 2(2)(c) makes clear the Bill does not affect any saving or transitional provision made in respect of an Act already repealed.

Question put and agreed to.
SECTION 3.
Question proposed: "That section 3 stand part of the Bill."

Section 3 sets out for information purposes all the Acts which are to be expressly repealed by section 2. This section is not a repealing section as the repeal is effected by section 2. However, it provides clarity and ease of reference for those Acts being repealed.

Section 3(1) provides for the setting out in Schedule 2 of those statutes specifically repealed by the Bill. There are 1,351 Acts listed in the Bill for repeal which have been found to be unnecessary or have ceased to be in force. This list does not include those Acts that clearly never applied to Ireland. Subsection 2 makes clear that the omission of an Act from Schedule 2, other than the Acts retained by the Statute Law Revision Act 2007 or Acts proposed for attention and referred to in Schedule 1 to the Bill, does not preserve the Act in force for any purpose. The only exception is where, as provided in section 2(2)(c), the Act has already been repealed but saving, transitional or continuing provisions have been made in respect of the Act.

Subsection 3 makes clear that the inclusion of an Act in Schedule 2 should not be taken to mean that it is currently in force or has any effect. For example, some of the Acts in Schedule 2, while never repealed, may have been of questionable constitutionality or arguable application to Ireland. Therefore, these Acts may not be in force now but it is impossible to say for certain in the absence of a court decision to that effect. Such Acts of dubious applicability or constitutional status are being included in the list of Acts for repeal for the sake of legal certainty. The Long Title makes clear that the Bill, like previous Statute Law Revision Acts, addresses itself to two categories of Acts, namely, those that have ceased to have effect but have never been formally repealed, which are often described as being spent, and those that are unnecessary although they are technically still in force. These are sometimes described as being obsolete. Many of the Acts listed in Schedule 2 come within the first category and are being formally repealed by the Bill for the purposes of certainty and clarity even though they have ceased to have any practical effect.

Question put and agreed to.
SECTION 4.
Question proposed: "That section 4 stand part of the Bill."

Section 4 assigns Short Titles to all local and personal Acts and private Acts that are being retained by the Bill but that do not currently have a Short Title. The section is based on section 1(1) of the Short Titles Act 1962 and section 4 of the Statute Law Revision Act 2007.

Short Titles are conferred for the purposes of making it easier to refer to statutes and to remove the need for an Act to be cited using the year of the reign of the monarch concerned, known as the regnal year, together with the chapter number for that Act. This improves clarity and ease of reference.

Question put and agreed to.
SECTION 5.
Question proposed: "That section 5 stand part of the Bill."

Section 5 makes provision for the amendment of any unconventional or inappropriate Short Titles in respect of Acts retained by section 2, in order to facilitate the citation of those Acts in the future. For example, 1847 (10 & 11 Vict.) c. cxi, currently has a Short Title of the Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway Amendment Act 1847. Section 4 of the Bill inserts the word "Act" after "amendment" to bring it in line with all other Short Titles.

Question put and agreed to.
SECTION 6.
Question proposed: "That section 6 stand part of the Bill."

Section 6 is a savings clause. Modelled on the savings clauses of the Statute Law Revision Act 2007, the savings clauses are necessary to ensure that no unintentional consequences arise as a result of repealing any of the Acts. For clarity, as with the Statute Law Revision Act 2007, reference is made to the "application" of Acts to the State, in order to ensure that the saver clause is wide enough to preserve Acts which may have been applied to Ireland by Acts repealed by this Bill.

Subsection (1) contains provisions which are standard for Bills of this nature. It preserves principles and court practices which may have had their origins in statutes which are being repealed by this Bill. Subsection (2)(a) makes it clear that the Bill will not affect any organisation which was established by charter or letters patent, even where the charter may have been related to an Act which is being repealed by the Bill.

Subsection (2)(b) preserves the savings clause which appears in the Local Government Act 2001. This clause provides that the repeal of certain statutes in that 2001 Act did not prejudice any saving for ceremonial purposes of Acts relating to cities and towns, etc. Subsection 2(b) merely preserves that provision of the 2001 Act and does not alter it in any way. Subsection (3) is a standard savings clause which makes it clear that any earlier Act which was applied, confirmed, revived or perpetuated by a later Act which is to be repealed by this Bill will not be affected by that repeal.

Question put and agreed to.
SECTION 7.
Question proposed: "That section 7 stand part of the Bill."

This provides a Short Title and a collective citation for the Short Titles Acts. This is a standard provision and is similar to section 10 of the Statute Law Revision Act 2007.

Question put and agreed to.
SCHEDULE 1.
Question proposed: "That Schedule 1 be a Schedule 1 to the Bill."

Schedule 1 lists the Acts which are not considered appropriate for repeal at this stage, and therefore are retained.

Question put and agreed to.
SCHEDULE 2.
Question proposed: "That Schedule 2 be a Schedule 2 to the Bill."

Schedule 2 lists the specific Acts identified in the course of the review as appropriate for repeal because they have ceased to have effect or have become unnecessary. These Acts will be formally repealed following enactment of the Bill.

Each Schedule is divided into four parts. Part one contains Irish Private Acts enacted by parliaments sitting in Ireland prior to 31 December 1750. Part two contains English Private Acts enacted prior to union with Scotland in 1707. Part three contains Acts passed by Westminster parliaments sitting after the union of England and Scotland in 1707 but before 31 December 1750. Such legislation is usually referred to as "British" rather than "English". Part 4 contains local and personal Acts which apply to Ireland and were passed after the coming into effect of the Act of Union 1800 on 1 January 1801 but before 31 December 1850.

Question put and agreed to.
Title agreed to.

I thank the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and his officials dealing with business so quickly.

I thank the officials who have worked hard on this Bill, particularly Ciara Kennedy. She will be here for another while but will then go on to other pastures. She has a wig and gown in her briefcase.

I wish her every success.

Bill reported without amendments.
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