Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 1872

In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed.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. From 1810 to 1825, The Statutes of the Realm was published, providing the first authoritative collection of acts. The first statute law revision act was not passed until 1856 with the Repeal of Obsolete Statutes Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict. c. 64). This approach — focusing on removing obsolete laws from the statute book followed by consolidation — was proposed by Peter Locke King MP, who had been highly critical of previous commissions' approaches, expenditures, and lack of results. In 1863, the Statute Law Revision Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 125) was passed, which repealed or amended over 1,600 enactments. However, The territorial extent of the act was limited to England and Wales, meaning that those acts passed before Poynings' Act 1495 (10 Hen. 7. c. 22 (I)) were not completely repealed for the United Kingdom. == Passage ==

The Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Bill was first introduced in the House of Lords on 9 August 1870 by the Solicitor General for Ireland, Richard Dowse and the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Chichester Fortescue, but did not progress in that parliamentary session. The re-introduced Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 16 July 1872, introduced by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Thomas O'Hagan, 1st Baron O'Hagan. The bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 30 July 1872 and was committed to a committee of the whole house, which met and reported on 1 August 1872, without amendments. The bill had its third reading in the House of Lords on 2 August 1872 and passed, without amendments. The bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 3 August 1872. The bill had its second reading in the House of Commons on 5 August 1872 and was committed to a committee of the whole house, which met and reported on 6 August 1872, without amendments. The bill had its third reading in the House of Commons on 8 August 1872 and passed, with amendments. The amended bill was considered and agreed to by the House of Lords on 8 August 1872. The bill was granted royal assent on 10 August 1872. == Subsequent developments ==

The act was intended, in particular, to make the revised edition of the statutes already published applicable to Ireland. The Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c. 57) and Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1879 (42 & 43 Vict. c. 24) repealed more enactments of the Parliament of Ireland. In 1887, the Sheriffs Act 1887 (50 & 51 Vict. c. 55) was passed, which repealed for England and Wales enactments included in the act relating to sheriffs. The act was retained for the Republic of Ireland by the Statute Law Revision Act 2007. and remains in force there . == Repealed enactments ==

Section 1 of the act repealed 1,056 enactments, listed in the schedule to the act, across six categories: • Expired • Spent • Repealed in general terms • Virtually repealed • Superseded • Obsolete Section 1 of the act included several safeguards to ensure that the repeal does not negatively affect existing rights or ongoing legal matters. Specifically, any legal rights, privileges, or remedies already obtained under the repealed laws, as well as any legal proceedings or principles established by them, remain unaffected. Section 1 of the act also ensured that repealed enactments that have been incorporated into other laws would continue to have legal effect in those contexts. Moreover, the repeal would not revive any former rights, offices, or jurisdictions that had already been abolished. Section 2 of the act specified that the act extended to Ireland only. == See also ==