In the
United Kingdom,
acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed.
Blackstone's
Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in the late
18th-century, raised questions about the system and structure of the common law and the poor drafting and disorder of the existing statute book. In 1806, the
Commission on Public Records passed a resolution requesting the production of a report on the best mode of reducing the volume of the statute book. From 1810 to 1825,
The Statutes of the Realm was published, providing for the first time the authoritative collection of acts. In 1822,
Sir Robert Peel entered the
cabinet as
home secretary and in 1826 introduced a number of reforms to the
English criminal law, which became known as
Peel's Acts. This included efforts to modernise, consolidate and repeal provisions from a large number of earlier
statutes, including: •
Benefit of Clergy •
Larceny and other
Offences of Stealing •
Burglary,
Robbery and
Threats for the Purpose of
Robbery or of
Extortion •
Embezzlement,
False Pretences, and the
Receipt of Stolen Property •
Malicious Injuries to Property • Remedies against the
Hundred In 1827, several acts were passed for this purpose, territorially limited to
England and Wales and
Scotland, including: •
Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 (
7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 27), which repealed for
England and Wales over 140 enactments relating to the
criminal law. •
Criminal Law Act 1827 (
7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 28), which modernised the administration of criminal justice. •
Larceny Act 1827 (
7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 29), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to
larceny. •
Malicious Injuries to Property Act 1827 (
7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 30), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to malicious
injuries to property. In 1828, parallel bills for
Ireland to
Peel's Acts were introduced, becoming: •
Criminal Statutes (Ireland) Repeal Act 1828 (
9 Geo. 4. 54), which repealed for
Ireland over 140 enactments relating to the
criminal law. •
Criminal Law (Ireland) Act 1828 (
9 Geo. 4. 54), which modernised the administration of criminal justice. •
Larceny (Ireland) Act 1828 (
9 Geo. 4. c. 55) which consolidated provisions in the law relating to
larceny. •
Malicious Injuries to Property (Ireland) Act 1828 (
9 Geo. 4. c. 56), which consolidated provisions in the law relating to malicious
injuries to property. In 1828, the
Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (
9 Geo. 4. c. 31) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to
offences against the person and repealed for
England and Wales almost 60 enactments relating to the
criminal law. In 1829, the
Offences Against the Person (Ireland) Act 1829 (
10 Geo. 4. c. 34) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to
offences against the person and repealed for
Ireland almost 60 enactments relating to the
Criminal law. In 1828, the
Criminal Law (India) Act 1828 (
9 Geo. 4. c. 74) was passed, which repealed for
India offences repealed by the
Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 (
7 & 8 Geo. 4. c. 27) the
Offences Against the Person Act 1828 (
9 Geo. 4. c. 31). In 1830, the
Forgery Act 1830 (
11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. 66) was passed, which consolidated provisions in the law relating to
forgery and repealed for
England and Wales over 25 enactments relating to the criminal law. == Passage ==