The Statute Law Revision Act 2007 is an Act of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

which repealed a large amount of pre-1922 legislation of Ireland, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom while preserving a shorter list of statutes. The Act was the largest single

Statute Law Revision Act Statute Law Revision Act (with its variations) is a stock short title which has been used in Antigua, Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Ghana, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom, for Acts with the purpose of statute ...

or repealing measure ever enacted internationally.

Background

Prior to the 2007 Act, statute law revision had been sporadic since Irish independence in 1922. The Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union Irish Statutes) Act 1962 was one major such Act which repealed obsolete legislation of the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

, which had provided that the Kings of England should be Kings of Ireland (from 1951 called in Northern Ireland the

Crown of Ireland Act 1542 The Crown of Ireland Act 1542 (33 Hen. 8. c. 1 (I)) is an Act that was passed by the Parliament of Ireland on 18 June 1542, which created the title of "King of Ireland" for monarchs of England and their successors; previous monarchs had rul ...

), together with certain others from 1459 to 1800. Following this, the Statute Law Revision Act 1983 was the last major Act repealing pre-1922 statutes before the current phase of statute law revision, which commenced in 2003 and which also saw the enactment of an initial Act, the

Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Act 2005 The Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Act 2005 (No. 32 of 2005) is an Act of the Oireachtas. Section 1 of the Act, with the Schedule, repeals statutes of Ireland, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act r ...

Scope

The

Attorney General of Ireland The attorney general of Ireland () is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabine ...

examined 26,370 public general statutes enacted before the creation of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

in 1922. Of these 9,219 were already wholly repealed prior to 1 May 2007, and 12,562 were not applicable to Ireland. This left 4,589 statutes still in force, of which 3,225 were to be repealed by the Act and were listed in Schedule 2, some of which were in any case by then unconstitutional. The Act repealed all public general statutes enacted before 6 December 1922, listed or not, except for 1,364 explicitly in Schedule 1 of the Act; these were given short names where they did not already have them. Private, local or personal Acts remained in force, with many of these repealed in the Statute Law Revision Act 2009. The number of Acts repealed in this one piece of legislation exceeded the number of public general Acts passed after 6 December 1922 (the start of the Irish Free State) up to 1 May 2007 (3,189).

Acts repealed

Among the numerous acts repealed were Poynings' Act 1495, the

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 ( 10 & 11 Geo. 5. c. 67) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bi ...

, the

Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 The Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 ( 12 & 13 Geo. 5. c. 4) was an act of the British Parliament passed on 31 March 1922. It gave the force of law to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which was scheduled to the Act. Main provisions Section 1(1) of ...

and the

Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 The Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 (Session 2) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1922 to enact in UK law the Constitution of the Irish Free State, and to ratify the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty formally. Provisio ...

Acts retained

Among the older acts retained were the Great Charter of Ireland (the Irish version of

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

) and the

Mayor of Dublin Act 1229 In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

. The

Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543 An Act for the division of Meath into two shires (referred to in the modern Irish Statute Book as the Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act 1543) (34 Hen. 8. c. 1 (I)) was an act of the Parliament of Ireland passed in 1542 which resulted in the ...

, which partitioned Meath in two, was also retained; as was the English

Bill of Rights 1688 The Bill of Rights 1689 (sometimes known as the Bill of Rights 1688) is an act of the Parliament of England that set out certain basic civil rights and changed the succession to the English Crown. It remains a crucial statute in English con ...

, however it was partly repealed, including the provision that guaranteed

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

the

right to bear arms The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a legal right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, as well as ...

. The Marriage (No. 2) Act 1537 (28 & 29 Hen. 8. c. 17 (I)) was also retained and this retention has been the subject of academic criticism from Dr Maebh Harding.

Subsequent statute law revision programme

Following the 2007 Act, the Oireachtas enacted further legislation dealing with Local and Personal and Private Acts enacted pre-1922, the Statute Law Revision Act 2009 and the

Statute Law Revision Act 2012 The Statute Law Revision Act 2012 (No 19) is a Statute Law Revision Act enacted by the Oireachtas in Ireland to review Local and Personal Acts passed from 1851 to 1922 and Private Acts passed from 1751 to 1922. The Act repealed a large number of p ...

Sources

Act and explanatory memorandum

References

{{Reflist 2007 in Irish law Acts of the Oireachtas of the 2000s Legal history of Ireland Statute Law Revision 2007