The doctrine of implied repeal is a
concept
Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs.
They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by ...
in
constitutional theory which states that where an
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
or an
Act of Congress (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way of a "primacy clause" which states that the act in question supersedes all other statutes until it is specifically repealed.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Scotland Act can only be expressly repealed; it cannot be impliedly repealed; that is because of its 'fundamental constitutional nature'."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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
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
*
Desuetude
*
Derogation
Derogation, in civil law and common law, is the partial suppression of a law. In contrast, annulment is the total abolition of a law by explicit repeal, and obrogation is the partial or total modification or repeal of a law by the imposition of ...
*
Obrogation In civil law, obrogation (Latin: ''obrogat'' from ''obrogare'') is the modification or repeal of a law in whole or in part by issuing a new law.
In canon law, of the Catholic Church, obrogation is the enacting of a contrary law that is a revocatio ...
References
{{Constitution of Canada
English legal terminology
Legal doctrines and principles