Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013

Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013
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Title	Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013
Enacted by	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to promote the reform of the statute law by the repeal, in accordance with recommendations of the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission, of certain enactments which are no longer of practical utility, and to make other provision in connection with the repeal of those enactments.
Year	2013
Royal assent	31 January 2013
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Status	Current

Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013

The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2013 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom implementing recommendations of the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission to remove obsolete and spent legislation from the statute book. It forms part of the ongoing statute law revision programme alongside earlier measures such as the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2008, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1977, and the work of the Law Revision Committee. The Act assists jurisdictions across the United Kingdom in simplifying statutory sources relied on by practitioners in courts such as the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Court of Session.

Background and purpose

The Act derives from law reform processes coordinated by the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission which have roots in projects led by figures associated with the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Commons and reforms following the Law Commissions Act 1965. It reflects longer trajectories in statute consolidation exemplified by the Law Commission's 1998 Consolidation Guide, the post-war codification efforts influenced by jurists like Sir William Blackstone and Sir William Holdsworth, and later consolidation projects alongside the Statute Law Committee. The purpose was to give effect to repeal recommendations identified in reports addressing obsolete enactments originating in instruments such as the Parliamentary Papers, the Judicature Acts, and local Acts passed by municipal bodies like the City of London Corporation and county councils historically recorded in the London Gazette.

Provisions of the Act

The Act comprises short operative provisions authorising repeal and making incidental amendments to facilitate a clean statute book consistent with previous measures including the Interpretation Act 1978, the Short Titles Act 1896, and the Acts of Parliament Numbering and Citation Act 1962. It authorises repeals recommended in principal Law Commission reports and schedules that list repealed statutes and parts thereof, referencing precedent from the Statute Law Revision Act 1861 and the Statute Law Revision Act 1892. The Act also contains saving provisions affecting the operation of rights and liabilities created under repealed enactments in line with jurisprudence from cases such as decisions of the House of Lords before the establishment of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

Repeals and consequential amendments

Schedules to the Act specify numerous repeals and consequential amendments touching on enactments spanning centuries, including obsolete provisions originally enacted by the Parliament of England, the Parliament of Great Britain, and the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The repealed material includes municipal borough acts relating to bodies such as the Metropolitan Board of Works, railway authorising acts connected to companies like the London and North Eastern Railway, and ancient statutes touching on subjects governed historically under charters of the City of Westminster. Consequential amendments adjust citations and short titles consistent with the Short Titles Act 1896 and the Interpretation Act 1978 to maintain coherence with later statutes including the European Communities Act 1972 and amendments influenced by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

Legislative history and passage

The Bill implementing the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission recommendations was introduced in the House of Commons and proceeded through stages where Members including those active in committees on statute law reform and the Justice Select Committee considered its schedules. Debates occurred in the context of wider parliamentary legislative management reforms following reports linked to the Modernisation Committee and administrative changes associated with the Cabinet Office. The Bill received scrutiny in both Houses, including detailed consideration in the House of Lords where experts from the Bar Council and the Law Society of England and Wales assisted in clarifying technical points before the Bill received Royal assent from the Crown on 31 January 2013.

Impact and legal significance

The Act reduced complexity in legal research used by practitioners appearing before tribunals such as the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber), the Tribunal Procedure Committee, and courts including the Crown Court. It updated the corpus of statute law relied upon alongside consolidation statutes like the Companies Act 2006 and sectoral reforms exemplified by the Finance Act series. The repeals support legal certainty referenced in decisions of appellate courts including the Court of Appeal and contribute to public law transparency valued by bodies such as the National Archives and academic commentators associated with universities like Oxford University and University of Edinburgh.

Implementation and commencement

The Act came into force on receiving Royal assent with specific commencement provisions allowing certain repeals to take effect either immediately or on dates appointed by statutory instrument made under powers comparable to those in the Commencement Act practice. Implementation involved practitioners updating annotated statutes used by publishers such as Butterworths and Oxford University Press and judicial offices updating legislative databases used in courts including the High Court of Justice and the Court of Session. The Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission retained oversight to ensure the intended deregulatory and clarificatory effects were realised in legal practice.

Category:United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2013 Category:Repealed legislation