A consolidation bill is a bill introduced into the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the intention of consolidating several acts of Parliament or statutory instruments into a single act. Such bills simplify the statute book without significantly changing the state of the law, [1] [2] and are subject to an expedited Parliamentary procedure. Once enacted a consolidation bill becomes a consolidation act.
The parliamentary practice of legislating only for small portions of a subject at a time can create undue complexity in statute law. Acts relating to a particular subject often end up scattered over many years, and through the operation of clauses partially repealing or amending former acts, the specific meaning of the law regarding the subject becomes enveloped in intricate or contradictory expressions. For clarity, the law as expressed across many statutes is sometimes recast in a single statute, called a consolidation bill. [3]
By 1911, such bills had been passed dealing with subjects as diverse as customs, stamps and stamp duties, public health, weights and measures, sheriffs, coroners, county courts, housing, municipal corporations, libraries, trustees, copyhold, diseases of animals, merchant shipping, and friendly societies. [3]
These observations apply to the public general acts of the legislature. On the other hand, in settling local acts, such as those relating to railway and canal enterprise, the legislature always inserted certain clauses founded on reasons of public policy applicable to the business in question. To avoid the necessity of constantly re-enacting the same principles in local acts, their common clauses were embodied in separate statutes, and their provisions are ordered to be incorporated in any local act of the description mentioned therein. Such are the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. 18),the Companies Clauses Act 1863 and the Railways Clauses Act 1863. [3]
Consolidation bills are introduced in the House of Lords which, by convention, has primacy in these matters. The Lords has the only substantive discussion on the bill, at its second reading, before the bill is sent to the Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills, which may propose amendments to it. Subject to this, the Lords' third reading and all readings in the House of Commons are usually formalities and pass without debate. [1]
Most consolidation bills are proposed in the first instance by the Law Commission, [4] [5] and it is this prior consideration that gives rise to the expedited process afforded to these bills. [5] [6] Every consolidation bill proposed by the Law Commission has been passed by Parliament. [7]
Once a consolidation bill receives royal assent it becomes a consolidation act. An example of a consolidation act is the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, [8] which consolidated into a single act parts of sentencing legislation previously spread across twelve separate acts. [4] Another example of a consolidation act in relation to sentencing is the Sentencing Act 2020, which significantly replaced many acts in relation to sentencing including the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.
There are five categories of bill that qualify as consolidation bills: [9]
The first three categories now account for almost all consolidation bills. [9]
No consolidation acts were passed in 2008. [10]
The following are consolidation acts: [11] [12]
No consolidation acts were passed in 2004. [13]
The European Parliamentary Elections Act 2002 is a consolidation act. [14]
The Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (c. 6) is a consolidation act. [15]
No consolidation acts were passed in 1999. [16]
The Petroleum Act 1998 (c. 17) and the Audit Commission Act 1998 (c 18) are consolidation acts. [17] The Audit Commission Act 1998 primarily consolidated the provisions of Part III of the Local Government Finance Act 1982, along with certain other legislation relating to the Audit Commission. [18]
The following are consolidation acts: [19]
The following are consolidation acts: [20]
The following are consolidation acts: [22]
The following are consolidation acts: [23]
The following are consolidation acts: [24]
The following are consolidation acts: [25]
The following are consolidation acts: [26]
The following are consolidation acts: [27]
The following acts are consolidation acts: [28]
The following are consolidation acts: [29]
The Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (c. 26) is a consolidation act. [30]
The following are consolidation acts: [31]
The following are consolidation acts: [32]
The following are consolidation acts: [33]
The following are consolidation acts: [34]
The Pastoral Measure 1983 (No. 1) is a consolidation measure. [35]
The following are consolidation acts: [36]
The following are consolidation acts: [37]
The following are consolidation acts: [38]
The following are consolidation acts: [39]
The following are consolidation acts: [40]
The following are consolidation acts: [41]
The following are consolidation acts: [42]
The following are consolidation acts: [43]
The following are consolidation acts: [44]
The following are consolidation acts: [45]
The following are consolidation acts: [46]
The following are consolidation acts: [47]
The following are consolidation acts: [48]
The following are consolidation acts: [49]
The following are consolidation acts: [50]
The following are consolidation acts: [51]
The following are consolidation acts: [52]
The following are consolidation acts: [53]
The Television Act 1964 (c. 21) and the Licensing Act 1964 (c. 26) are consolidation acts. [54]
A Consolidated Fund Act is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed to allow, like an Appropriation Act, the Treasury to issue funds out of the Consolidated Fund.
The New Towns Acts were a series of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to found new settlements or to expand substantially existing ones, to establish Development Corporations to deliver them, and to create a Commission to wind up the Corporations and take over their assets and liabilities. Of these, the more substantive acts were the New Towns Act 1946 and the Town Development Act 1952. "The New Towns Act [1946] was intended to pre-emptively direct urban growth and infrastructural development into new towns, thereby decentralising population and economic opportunity while inhibiting urban sprawl."
The Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a consolidation act. It codifies the procedures applicable in the magistrates' courts of England and Wales and largely replaces the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952. Part I of the act sets out provisions in relation to the courts' criminal jurisdiction, and Part II in relation to civil proceedings.
The Offences Against the Person Act 1837 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that amended the law to lessen the severity of punishment of offences against the person, lessening the severity of the punishment of offences.
Statute Law (Repeals) Act is a stock short title which is used for acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom whose purpose is to repeal enactments which are no longer of practical utility. These acts are drafted by the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission.
The Chronological Table of the Statutes is a chronological list of the public Acts passed by the Parliament of England (1235–1706), the Parliament of Great Britain (1707–1800), and the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as well as the acts of the old Parliament of Scotland and of the modern Scottish Parliament, and the measures passed by the National Assembly for Wales and by the General Synod of the Church of England. It is produced by Her Majesty's Stationery Office and published by The Stationery Office.
The Short Titles Act 1896 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Short Titles Act 1892.
The Statute Law Revision Act 1948 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
A revised edition of the statutes is an edition of the Revised Statutes in the United Kingdom. These editions are published by authority.
The Statute Law Revision Act 1953 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1981 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which implemented recommendations contained in the fourth report on statute law revision, by the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission.
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1975 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1976 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010.
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