Eighteenth Report Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill

Law Commission Reforming the law Statute Law Repeals: Eighteenth Report Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill Joint Report Law Com No 308 / Scot Law Com No 210 The Law Commission and The Scottish Law Commission (LAW COM No 308) (SCOT LAW COM No 210) STATUTE LAW REPEALS: EIGHTEENTH REPORT DRAFT STATUTE LAW (REPEALS) BILL Presented to the Parliament of the United Kingdom by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice by Command of Her Majesty Laid before the Scottish Parliament by the Scottish Ministers January 2008 Cm 7303 SG/2008/4 £25.75 The Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission were set up by the Law Commissions Act 1965 for the purpose of promoting the reform of the law. The Law Commissioners are: The Honourable Mr Justice Etherton, Chairman Mr Stuart Bridge Mr David Hertzell Professor Jeremy Horder Mr Kenneth Parker QC The interim Chief Executive of the Law Commission is Mr William Arnold.1 The Law Commission is located at Conquest House, 37-38 John Street, Theobalds Road, London WC1N 2BQ. The Scottish Law Commissioners are: The Honourable Lord Drummond Young, Chairman Professor George L Gretton Professor Gerard Maher QC Professor Joseph M Thomson Mr Colin J Tyre QC The Chief Executive of the Scottish Law Commission is Mr Michael Lugton. The Scottish Law Commission is located at 140 Causewayside, Edinburgh, EH9 1PR. The terms of this report were agreed on 3 December 2007 The text of this report is available on the Internet at: http://www.lawcom.gov.uk http://www.scotlawcom.gov.uk 0 Crown Copyright 2008 The text in this document (excluding the Royal Arms and departmental logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium providing that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the document specified. Any enquiries relating to the copyright in this document should be addressed to The Licensing Division, HMSO, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich, NR3 1BQ. Fax: 01603 723000 or e-mail: [email protected] 1 At the date the report was signed, Steve Humphreys was Chief Executive of the Law Commission. William Arnold was appointed interim Chief Executive with effect from 7 January 2008. ii LAW COMMISSION SCOTTISH LAW COMMISSION STATUTE LAW REPEALS: EIGHTEENTH REPORT DRAFT STATUTE LAW (REPEALS) BILL CONTENTS A NOTE ON THE STYLE OF PAGINATION This report is paginated consecutively. However, the Bill section (Appendix 1) is paginated according to the accepted Bill standard, and the number is at the top of the page. For the rest of the report the number is at the bottom of the page. Paragraph Page REPORT 1 APPENDIX 1: DRAFT STATUTE LAW (REPEALS) BILL 3 APPENDIX 2: EXPLANATORY NOTE ON THE DRAFT BILL 32 CLAUSES 1–3 32 SCHEDULE 1: REPEALS 33 PART 1 ARMED FORCES 33 Group 1 Royal Naval School 1.2 33 Group 2 Greenwich Hospital 1.4 33 Group 3 Military Lands 1.9 34 Group 4 General Repeals 1.12 35 PART 2 COUNTY GAOLS 44 Group 1 Buckinghamshire 2.4 44 Group 2 Cambridgeshire 2.7 44 Group 3 Cheshire 2.12 45 Group 4 Cumbria 2.15 46 Group 5 Devon 2.17 46 Group 6 Essex 2.26 47 Group 7 Gloucestershire 2.29 48 Group 8 Greater London 2.36 49 Group 9 Hampshire 2.52 52 Group 10 Hertfordshire 2.55 52 Group 11 Norfolk 2.58 53 Group 12 Northamptonshire 2.60 53 Group 13 Northumberland 2.62 53 Group 14 Pembrokeshire 2.66 54 Group 15 Somerset 2.68 55 Group 16 Staffordshire 2.70 55 Group 17 Warwickshire 2.72 55 Group 18 West Sussex 2.74 56 Group 19 Wiltshire 2.76 56 iii Paragraph Page PART 3 CRIMINAL LAW 57 PART 4 EAST INDIA COMPANY 66 PART 5 LONDON 70 Group 1 Poor Relief 5.2 70 Group 2 Westminster Court House 5.8 72 Group 3 London Coal Duties 5.14 73 Group 4 Court of Chancery 5.24 76 Group 5 Markets 5.37 78 Group 6 General Repeals 5.46 80 PART 6 POLICE 86 PART 7 RATING 92 PART 8 TAX AND DUTIES 102 PART 9 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING 113 PART 10 TURNPIKES 117 Group 1 Essex 10.9 119 Group 2 Suffolk 10.11 120 Group 3 Norfolk 10.13 122 PART 11 MISCELLANEOUS 124 SCHEDULE 2: CONSEQUENTIAL AND CONNECTED PROVISIONS 127 APPENDIX 3: PERSONS AND ORGANISATIONS CONSULTED ABOUT THE REPEAL PROVISIONS IN THIS REPORT 129 iv THE LAW COMMISSION AND THE SCOTTISH LAW COMMISSION STATUTE LAW REPEALS: EIGHTEENTH REPORT1 Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill To the Right Honourable Jack Straw MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, and the Scottish Ministers 1. In pursuance of section 3(1)(d) of the Law Commissions Act 1965, we have prepared the draft Bill which is Appendix 1 and recommend that effect be given to the proposals contained in it. An explanatory note on the contents of the draft Bill forms Appendix 2. Appendix 3 lists the individuals and organisations we consulted about our proposals. 2. The report recommends the repeal of enactments which have been identified, after detailed research and consultation, as being spent, obsolete, unnecessary or otherwise not now of practical utility.2 The proposals have been widely canvassed with the government departments and other bodies concerned, including the relevant authorities throughout Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.3 Full details of the proposals are set out in the Notes on the Bill which, along with this report, are available on the Law Commissions’ websites (www.lawcom.gov.uk and www.scotlawcom.gov.uk). 3. The report is submitted in pursuance of the Law Commissions’ programme on statute law. The broad objective of this programme is to modernise and simplify the statute book. (Signed) TERENCE ETHERTON JAMES DRUMMOND YOUNG Chairman, Law Commission Chairman, Scottish Law Commission STUART BRIDGE GEORGE GRETTON DAVID HERTZELL GERARD MAHER JEREMY HORDER JOSEPH M THOMSON KENNETH PARKER COLIN TYRE STEVE HUMPHREYS MICHAEL LUGTON Chief Executive Chief Executive 4 December 2007 1 Earlier reports in this series have been called statute law revision reports. Our decision to describe this latest report as a statute law repeals report reflects the reality that our proposals are about repealing obsolete enactments rather than revising them. 2 The enactments proposed for repeal are specified in Schedule 1 to the draft Bill. The Schedule is divided into Parts, some of which are subdivided into Groups. The Parts are, in accordance with the drafting practice adopted in Statute Law (Repeals) Acts since 1975, presented according to their alphabetical order of title with a Part at the end dealing with miscellaneous repeals. 3 Where the proposals extend to Wales, those consulted include the Wales Office and the Counsel General to the Welsh Assembly Government. Where the proposals extend to Scotland, those consulted include the Scottish Executive and the departments responsible for reserved matters in relation to Scotland. Where the proposals extend to Northern Ireland, those consulted include the Northern Ireland Office and the First Legislative Counsel for Northern Ireland. 1 2 (Report, paragraph 1) 3 Appendix 1 - Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill CONTENTS 1 Repeals and associated provisions 2Extent 3 Short Title Schedule 1 — Repeals Part 1 — Armed Forces Part 2 — County Gaols Part 3 — Criminal Law Part 4 — East India Company Part 5 — London Part 6 — Police Part 7 — Rating Part 8 — Tax and Duties Part 9 — Town and Country Planning Part 10 — Turnpikes Part 11 — Miscellaneous Schedule 2 — Consequential and Connected Provisions 4 Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill 5 A BILL 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 (except in so far as their effect is preserved) are no longer of practical utility, and to make other provision in connection with the repeal of those enactments. E IT ENACTED by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present BParliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:— 1 Repeals and associated provisions (1) The enactments referred to in Schedule 1 are repealed to the extent specified in the second column of that Schedule. (2) Schedule 2 (consequential and connected provisions) has effect. 2 Extent 5 (1) This Act extends to the whole of the United Kingdom. (2) This Act also extends to the Isle of Man. (3) Subject to subsection (5), the repeals and amendments in Schedules 1 and 2 have the same extent as the enactments repealed or amended, except as mentioned in the relevant entry. 10 (4) Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide- (a) that the repeal by this Act of any enactment specified in the Order shall on a date so specified extend to any of the Channel Islands or any British overseas territory, and (b) that any provision of Schedule 2 specified in the Order shall on a date 15 so specified extend to any of the Channel Islands or any British overseas territory subject to any modification so specified. 6 Draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill (5) Except as provided by an order under subsection (4), this Act does not repeal or amend any enactment so far as the enactment forms part of the law of a country outside the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. 3 Short Title This Act may be cited as the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2008.

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