STATUTE LAW RESTATEMENT (LRC 91 – 2008) REPORT STATUTE LAW RESTATEMENT (LRC 91 - 2008) © COPYRIGHT Law Reform Commission 2008 FIRST PUBLISHED JULY 2008 ISSN 1393-3132 i LAW REFORM COMMISSION‟S ROLE The Law Reform Commission is an independent statutory body established by the Law Reform Commission Act 1975. The Commission‟s principal role is to keep the law under review and to make proposals for reform, in particular by recommending the enactment of legislation to clarify and modernize the law. Since it was established, the Commission has published over 130 documents containing proposals for law reform and these are all available at www.lawreform.ie. Most of these proposals have led to reforming legislation. The Commission‟s role is carried out primarily under a Programme of Law Reform. Its Third Programme of Law Reform 2008-2014 was prepared by the Commission following broad consultation and discussion. In accordance with the 1975 Act, it was approved by the Government in December 2007 and placed before both Houses of the Oireachtas. The Commission also works on specific matters referred to it by the Attorney General under the 1975 Act. Since 2006, the Commission‟s role includes two other areas of activity, Statute Law Restatement and the Legislation Directory. Statute Law Restatement involves the administrative consolidation of all amendments to an Act into a single text, making legislation more accessible. Under the Statute Law (Restatement) Act 2002, where this text is certified by the Attorney General it can be relied on as evidence of the law in question. The Legislation Directory - previously called the Chronological Tables of the Statutes - is a searchable annotated guide to legislative changes. After the Commission took over responsibility for this important resource, it decided to change the name to Legislation Directory to indicate its function more clearly. ii MEMBERSHIP Law Reform Commission consists of a President, one full-time Commissioner and three part-time Commissioners. The Commissioners at present are: President: The Hon Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness Former Judge of the Supreme Court Full-time Commissioner: Patricia T Rickard-Clarke, Solicitor Part-time Commissioner: Professor Finbarr McAuley Part-time Commissioner: Marian Shanley, Solicitor Part-time Commissioner: Donal O‟Donnell, Senior Counsel iii LAW REFORM RESEARCH STAFF Director of Research: Raymond Byrne BCL, LLM, (NUI) Barrister-at-Law Legal Researchers: Áine Clancy BCL, LLM (NUI) Kate Dineen LLB, LLM (Cantab) Philip Flaherty BCL, LLM (NUI), Diop sa Gh (NUI) Eleanor Leane LLB, LLM (NUI) Gemma Ní Chaoimh BCL, LLM (NUI) Verona Ní Dhrisceoil BCL (Dlí agus Gaeilge), LLM (NUI) Jane O‟Grady BCL, LLB (NUI), LPC (College of Law) Charles O‟Mahony BA, LLB (NUI), LLM (Lond), LLM (NUI) Nicola White LLB, LLM (Dub) Attorney-at-Law (NY) STATUTE LAW RESTATEMENT Project Manager for Restatement: Alma Clissmann, BA (Mod), LLB, Dip Eur Law (Bruges), Solicitor Legal Researchers: John P. Byrne BCL, LLM (NUI), Barrister-at-Law Kristian Douglas BA (Law and History), LLM (TCD) Elizabeth Fitzgerald LLB, M.Sc. (Criminology & Criminal Justice), Barrister-at-Law LEGISLATION DIRECTORY Project Manager for Legislation Directory: Heather Mahon LLB (ling. Ger.), M.Litt, Barrister-at-Law Legal Researchers: Margaret Devaney LLB Eóin McManus BA, LLB (NUI), LLM (Lond) iv ADMINISTRATION STAFF Head of Administration and Development: John Glennon Higher Executive Officer: Alan Heade Executive Officers: Simon Fallon Emma Kenny Darina Moran Peter Trainor Legal Information Manager: Conor Kennedy BA, H Dip LIS Cataloguer: Eithne Boland BA (Hons), HDip Ed, HDip LIS Clerical Officers: Ann Browne Ann Byrne Liam Dargan Sabrina Kelly PRINCIPAL LEGAL RESEARCHERS FOR THIS REPORT John P. Byrne BCL, LLM (NUI), Barrister-at-Law Kristian Douglas BA (Law and History), LLM (TCD) John Kenny LLB, LLM (Cape Town), Barrister-at-Law Eimear Long LLB, PhD (TCD), Barrister-at-Law v CONTACT DETAILS Further information can be obtained from: Head of Administration and Development Law Reform Commission 35-39 Shelbourne Road Ballsbridge Dublin 4 Telephone: +353 1 637 7600 Fax: +353 1 637 7601 Email: [email protected] Website: www.lawreform.ie vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Commission would like to thank the following people who provided valuable assistance in the preparation of the Report: Noreen Banim, Bills Office, Houses of the Oireachtas William Beausang, Department of Finance Leo Bollins, eDemocracy Unit, Houses of the Oireachtas Hugh Boyle, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform Dick Caffrey, Bills Office, Houses of the Oireachtas Cladonia Ltd. Bill Cox, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Frank Daly, Chairman, Revenue Commissioners Michael Dreelan, Department of Transport Eugene Forde, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Paul Gallagher SC, Attorney General Kevin Gleeson, PA Consulting Diarmuid Hallinan, Office of the Data Protection Commissioner Aileen Harrington, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform Richard Humphreys, Barrister-at-Law and Consultant to the Pre- Independence Project, Office of the Attorney General Brian Hunt, Mason Hayes & Curran Solicitors Liam Kelly, CMOD, Department of Finance Michael Larkin, Government Supplies Agency Dermot McCarthy, Department of the Taoiseach Colonel Tony McCourt, Defence Forces John Marks, Office of Public Sector Information, London Mark Martin, National University of Ireland, Maynooth Gerry Matthews, Office of the Attorney General Kieran Mooney, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government, Office of the Attorney General Deirbhle Murphy, Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Office of the Attorney General Deaglán Ó Briain, Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Evelyn O’Connor, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Tadhg O’Leary, CMOD, Department of Finance Sean O’Shea, Revenue Commissioners Alan Pawsey, Office of Public Sector Information, London Randall Plunkett, Legal Services Division, Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Propylon Ltd. vii Evelyn Robinson, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government, Office of the Attorney General Barry Sheehan, Solicitor, Barry Sheehan Solicitors Lesley Torlin, Office of Public Sector Information, London The Commission would also like to acknowledge and thank all those who submitted suggestions of candidate Acts for inclusion in the Programme of Statute Law Restatement: Full responsibility for this publication lies with the Commission. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 STATUTE LAW RESTATEMENT IN CONTEXT 5 A Introduction 5 B The context of restatement in the Irish legislative framework 5 (1) Background 5 (2) The Statute Law (Restatement) Act 2002 and Better Regulation 7 (3) The Irish Statute Book and pre-1922 legislation 9 (4) The Irish Statute Book and the role of restatement 10 (5) Principle of access to legislation 12 (6) Current availability of legislation 14 (7) The content of restatements 16 (8) The Legislation Directory 18 (9) Contribution of the Statute Law Restatement Programme to the Legislation Directory 19 C The difficulties facing restatement in Ireland 21 (1) The difficulty of finding pre-1922 legislation: The Explosives Act 1875 and the Explosives Substances Act 1883 21 (2) The difficulties presented by the growth of amending Acts and “Miscellaneous Provisions” Acts: The Irish Medicines Board (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 24 (3) Finding the text of an Act as amended: The Freedom of Information Act 1997 25 (4) The difficulties of incorporating statutory instruments 26 D Benefits of restatement 29 (1) Increased transparency of legislation 29 (2) Benefits to the economy 29 (3) Benefits to the legislative process 30 (4) Benefits to the legal system 31 (5) Development of law reform – codification, consolidation and restatement 32 (6) eLegislation 34 (7) The future of restatement 38 ix CHAPTER 2 THE PROCESS OF RESTATEMENT 39 A Introduction 39 B Process 39 (1) Introduction to terminology - principal Act, group of Acts and suite of Acts 40 (2) Reliable data 40 (3) XML data 41 (4) Identifying affecting provisions 43 (5) “As amended” 44 (6) Commencement dates 44 (7) Drafting a restatement 45 (8) Quality control 45 (9) Double blind 46 (10)Peer review 46 (11)Commission sign-off 46 (12)Transmission to the Office of the Attorney General 47 (13)Certification 47 (14)Online publication before certification 47 C Format of restatements 48 (1) Version 1 48 (2) Version 2 48 (3) Version 3 50 (4) Modified version 3 50 (5) Groups of Acts 54 (6) Suites of Acts 55 (7) Structure 55 (8) Annotations 57 D Publication 66 (1) Printed and electronic versions 67 (2) Updating restatements 69 (3) Pre-certified restatements 71 CHAPTER 3 THE TECHNOLOGY OF RESTATEMENT 73 A Introduction 73 B The repository of data 73 (1) Uniformity of the Data 73 (2) Database 76 (3) Accuracy of the data and corruption of data 77 C Editing the data and output 80 (1) Editing Tool 80 (2) Tailoring the editing tool 81 x (3) Functionality 81 (4) Web front end 81 (5) Future proofing the project 82 D Law Reform Commission Technology Developments 83 (1) Repository of Data 83 E Public procurement 85 (2) Website 87 (3) Maintaining the data 87 F Quality control 88 (1) Document comparison 88 (2) Project management 89 G Technology and eLegislation 90 CHAPTER 4 PROGRAMME OF RESTATEMENT 91 A Introduction 91 B The Selection Process 91 (1) The candidates for restatement and prioritisation criteria 91 (2) Submissions on certain candidate Acts 93 C Restating suites of Acts 94 D Survey