The doctrine of implied repeal is a
concept
A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs.
Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied within such disciplines as linguistics, ...
in
constitutional theory which states that where an
Act of Parliament or an
Act of Congress
An act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...
(or of some other legislature) conflicts with an earlier one, the later Act takes precedence and the conflicting parts of the earlier Act become legally inoperable. This doctrine is expressed in the Latin phrase ''leges posteriores priores contrarias abrogant'' or "lex posterior derogat priori".
Implied repeal is to be contrasted with the express repeal of legislation by the legislative body.
Canada
In Canadian law, it is possible for a law to be protected from implied repeal by way of a "primacy clause" which states that the act in question supersedes all other statutes until it is specifically repealed. Acts with such primacy clauses are called quasi-constitutional.
United Kingdom
In the 2002 English case ''
Thoburn v Sunderland City Council'' (the so-called "
Metric Martyrs" case),
Lord Justice Laws held that some
constitutionally significant statutes hold a higher status in UK law and are not subject to the doctrine of implied repeal. The case specifically dealt with s.2(2) of the
European Communities Act, but in his judgment Lord Justice Laws also held the view that the
Parliament Acts and the
Human Rights Act are "constitutional statutes" and in his opinion may not be subject to the doctrine of implied repeal.
A decade later in 2012, in a case before the
United Kingdom Supreme Court, ''BH v The Lord Advocate (Scotland)'',
Lord Hope held that "the
Scotland Act can only be expressly repealed; it cannot be impliedly repealed; that is because of its 'fundamental constitutional nature'."
United States
Under
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
law, "implied repeal" is a disfavored doctrine. That is, if a court can reconcile the two statutes with any reasonable interpretation, that interpretation is preferred to one that treats the earlier statute as invalidated by the later one.
See also
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Desuetude
*
Derogation
Derogation is a legal term of art, which allows for part or all of a provision in a legal measure to be applied differently, or not at all, in certain cases. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working ConditionsDerogation publi ...
*
Obrogation
In civil law, obrogation (Latin: from ) is the modification or repeal of a law in whole or in part by issuing a new law.
In the canon law of the Catholic Church, obrogation is the enacting of a contrary law that is a revocation of a previous law ...
References
{{Constitution of Canada
English legal terminology
Legal doctrines and principles