Select Committee on the Promulgation of the Statutes
 | |
| Formation | November 2, 1796 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Dr Lushington MP |
| Dissolved | May 7, 1824 |
| Purpose | To consider the most effectual Means of promulgating the Statutes of the Realm; and to report the same, with their Observations, to the House |
Key people | See § membership |
Parent organization | House of Commons |
The Select Committee on the Promulgation of the Statutes was a select committee of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom appointed in 1796 to consider the promulgation of the statutes of the United Kingdom.
Background
[edit]In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed.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.[1]
On 12 April 1796, the Select Committee on Temporary Laws, Expired or Expiring was appointed to inspect and consider temporary laws, expired or expiring.[2] The committee reported on 12 May 1796, resolving that it was "highly expedient for the honour of the nation and the benefit of all His Majesty's subjects that a complete and authoritative edition of all the statutes should be published", and publishing a Register of Expiring Laws and a Register of Expired Laws.[2]
Establishment
[edit]On 2 November 1876, the House of Commons resolved to appoint a select committee to "consider the most effectual Means of promulgating the Statutes of the Realm; and to report the same, with their Observations, to the House".[3] The committee was instructed to take into consideration the report of the Select Committee on Temporary Laws, Expired or Expiring dated 12 May 1796, as relates to the committee's observations and recommendations on promulgation.[3]
Membership
[edit]The committee was appointed on 2 November 1796, consisting of 11 members with a quorum of five and the power to "send for persons, papers, and records".[4]
The committee was also assisted by the King's Printer, Andrew Strahan MP.[5]
Report
[edit]The committee first met on 3 November 1796.[6] The committee reported on 5 December 1796.[6]
The committee addressed the mode of promulgation, remarking that "the only mode in which the statutes are now promulgated is the publication of them by the King's Printer. Your committee have not been able to discover at what precise period of time the statutes of the realm were first printed by public authority, but it appears that the ancient mode of promulgating them by the sheriff's proclamation fell into disuse very soon after the introduction of the art of printing."[6][2] The committee observed that the statutes printed by the King's Printer at the end of each session were collected into volumes, consisting of all public acts and local and personal acts made public by a special clause (except Turnpike Acts). They noted that promulgation was limited to around 1,100 volumes annually, distributed to members of each house of parliament, the privy council and some of the the great offices of state.[6]
The committee recommended that "expedition in promulgating public statutes must ever be an important object of attention" and criticised the considerable financial cost and bulk of the statute book.[6]
The committee noted that, in the annual volume of the statutes, local acts declared to be public (for example drainage, bridges, churches, canals etc.) occupying more than double the space of more important public general acts, even when taking into account the practice of the King's Printer of excluding Turnpike Acts.[6][2] Therefore, the committee recommended excluding all local acts, abstracts and repetitions of titles from the Collection of Public Acts.[6]
This would allow for distribution of volumes of reduced size to increase from 1,100 to 3,500, at the same cost as before, allowing for copies to be promulgated to more courts of England and Wales and courts of Scotland, deposit libraries, the four Inns of Court, English and Scottish universities, the Register Office for Scotland, the sheriffs of the 85 counties, the 106 commissions of the peace, the Chief Magistrate or head officer of each city, borough, town corporate etc., resident justices of the peace of the 56 counties, ridings or divisions, and the 17 inferior jurisdictions, of England and Wales and each of the 32 counties and single stewartry of Scotland, and other custos rotulorum.[6]
The committee recommended promulgating the public local acts to all public bodies and officers of state, each house of Parliament, every department, the courts of England and Wales, the courts of Scotland and other deposit libraries/repositories.
The committee recommend promulgating the private acts to the house of parliament, recognising the volume and cost of wider distribution.[6]
The committee laid down requirements which every bill ought to be introduced, emphasising the importance prompt and regular printing, of punctuation, numbered sections, marginal notes and stating precisely the duration of temporary acts and commencement dates.[6][2] The report also gave some curious instances of errors of typography and punctuation.[2]
The committee also published as an appendix documents collected in proof of facts they "thought necessary to ascertain" and preserve.[6]
Legacy
[edit]The work of both committees drew attention to the unsatisfactory state of the statute book, following a resolution of the House of Commons on 20 March 1797 that "that his Majesty's printer should also be authorized to class the general and the special statutes (viz. the public, local, and private acts) of each session in separate volumes, and to number the chapters of each volume, together with a general table of all the acts passed in that session".[7] This led to the distinction now recognised between public general acts, local and personal acts and private acts.[2]
In 1806, the Commission on Public Records passed a resolution requesting the production of a report on the best mode of reducing the volume of the statute book.[2] From 1810 to 1825, The Statutes of the Realm was published, providing for the first time the authoritative collection of acts.[2]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Farmer, Lindsay (2000). "Reconstructing the English Codification Debate: The Criminal Law Commissioners, 1833-45". Law and History Review. 18 (2): 397–425. doi:10.2307/744300. ISSN 0738-2480. JSTOR 744300.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Ilbert, Courtenay (1901). Legislative methods and forms. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 43–76. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b Commons, Great Britain House of (1796). The Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 52. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 92.
- ^ Commons, Great Britain House of (1797). The Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 52. pp. 92, 157, 386, 404, 412–413, 434, 451, 510, 517, 522, 633, 641, 653–654. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
- ^ "STRAHAN, Andrew (c.1749-1831), of New Street, Fleet Street, London | History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Commons, Great Britain Parliament House of (1803). Reports from Committees of the House of Commons which Have Been Printed by Order of the House: And are Not Inserted in the Journals [1715-1801. pp. 119–150.
- ^ Lords, Great Britain Parliament House of (1853). Reports from Commissioners. p. 197.
