The Statute Law Revision Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 69) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed for the United Kingdom enactments relating to the National Debt and to forgery which had ceased to be in force or had become necessary. The act was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of the revised edition of the statutes, then in progress.
The act repealed enactments consolidated by the Forgery Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 58) and National Debt Act 1870 (c. 71).
Background
In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed.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. +Previous statute law revision actsYear passedTitleCitationEffect1861Statute Law Revision Act 186124 & 25 Vict. c. 101Repealed or amended over 800 enactments1863Statute Law Revision Act 186326 & 27 Vict. c. 125Repealed or amended over 1,600 enactments for England and Wales1867Statute Law Revision Act 186730 & 31 Vict. c. 59Repealed or amended over 1,380 enactments
Passage The Statute Law Revision Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 12 July 1870, introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Robert Lowe and Financial Secretary to the Treasury, James Stansfeld . The bill had its second reading in the House of Commons on 18 July 1870 and was committed to a committee of the whole house, which met and reported on 25 July 1870, without amendments. The bill had its third reading in the House of Commons on 26 July 1870 and passed, without amendments.
The bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 28 July 1870, introduced by the Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne. The bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 2 August 1870 and was committed to a committee of the whole house, which met on 4 August 1870, and reported on 5 August 1870, with amendments. The amended bill had its third reading in the House of Lords on 6 August 1870 and passed, without amendments.
The amended bill was considered and agreed to by the House of Commons on 8 August 1870.
The bill was granted royal assent on 9 August 1870.
Subsequent developments The act was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of a revised edition of the statutes.
The schedule to the act was repealed by section 1 of, and the first schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 54), which came into force on 25 August 1894.
The whole act was repealed by section 1(1) of, and the part XIII of schedule 1 to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986, which came into force on 2 May 1986.
The act was retained for the Republic of Ireland by section 2(2)(a) of, and part 4 of schedule 1 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 2007, which came into force on 8 May 2007.
Repealed enactments Section 1 of the act repealed 251 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.