Forestalling, Regrating, etc. Act 1844

In 1772, the Repeal of Certain Laws Act 1772 (12 Geo. 3. c. 71) was passed, which repealed several statutes that had been found to prevent the free trade of commodities such as corn, meal, flour, cattle and sundry others, causing their price to increase:The repeals in that act were found not to have been effectual, because of repeated prohibitions in previous acts. In 1800, John Rusby was indicted for having bought ninety quarters of oats at 41 shillings per quarter and selling thirty of them at 43 shillings the same day. Lord Kenyon, the presiding judge, argued strongly against the repealing act, and addressed the jury strongly against the accused. Rusby was heavily fined, but, on appeal, the court was equally divided as to whether engrossing, forestalling and regrating were still offences at common law. == Passage ==

The Forestalling, etc. Offences Bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 2 April 1844, presented by the chancellor of the exchequer, Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon. The bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 16 April 1844 and was committed to a committee of the whole house, The bill had its second reading in the House of Commons on 22 May 1844 and was committed to a committee of the whole house, == Repealed enactments ==

Section 2 of the act repealed 37 enactments, listed in the section, for the United Kingdom. Section 3 of the act provided that acts repealed as to Great Britain by the Repeal of Certain Laws Act 1772 (12 Geo. 3. c. 71) were also to be repealed as to Great Britain and Ireland. Section 4 of the act provided that nothing in the act would apply to the spreading of false rumours. Section 5 of the act provided that the act may be amended or repealed by any act in the session of parliament during which it passed. == Subsequent developments ==

Several acts repealed by this act were subsequently repealed again by later Statute Law Revision Acts, either accidentally or for the avoidance of doubt, including: • Repeal of Obsolete Statutes Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict. c. 64) • Statute Law Revision Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 125) == Notes ==