Entry into force

Last updated

In law, coming into force or entry into force (also called commencement) is the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely related to the date of this transition. The point at which such instrument comes into effect may be set out in the instrument itself, or after the lapse of a certain period, or upon the happening of a certain event, such as a proclamation or an objective event, such as the birth, marriage, reaching a particular age or death of a certain person. On rare occasions,[ which? ] the effective date of a law may be backdated to a date before the enactment.[ citation needed ]

Contents

To come into force, a treaty or Act first needs to receive the required number of votes or ratifications. Although it is common practice to stipulate this number as a requirement in the body of the treaty itself, it can also be set out in a superior law or legal framework, such as a constitution or the standing orders of the legislature in which it originated.

"Coming into force" generally includes publication in an official gazette so that people know the law or treaty exists.

Treaties

After their adoption, treaties as well as their amendments may have to follow the official legal procedures of the organisation, such as the United Nations, that sponsored it, including signature, ratification, and entry into force.

Acts

The process of enactment, by which a bill becomes an Act, is separate from commencement. Even if a bill passes through all necessary stages to become an Act, it may not automatically come into force. Moreover, an Act may be repealed having never come into force. [1]

A country's law could determine that on being passed by lawmakers a bill becomes an act without further ado. However, more usually, the process whereby a bill becomes an Act is well prescribed in general constitutional or administrative legislation. This process varies from country to country, and from political system to political system.

Typically, the process by which a bill becomes an Act includes signature or some other token of assent by the head of state and publication in an official gazette. In some systems, the head of state or some other official is required to definitely signify his approval, as for example in the granting of royal assent in the Commonwealth realms. In others, a bill automatically becomes an Act unless vetoed, as for example in the United States. But these steps do not, in themselves, make an act legally binding on the population. An act is typically brought into force in one of three ways:

It is not necessarily the case that a statute which comes into force remains in force until it is repealed; it may be explicitly brought out of force, and perhaps later brought back into force. For example, in Ireland, Section V of the Offences against the State Act 1939 (which provides for the Special Criminal Court) goes in and out of force by government proclamation: [2] it was brought into force on 24 August 1939, out of force on 2 October 1962, and back into force on 26 May 1972. [3]

United Kingdom

Section 4 of the Interpretation Act 1978 provides:

An Act or provision of an Act comes into force—

(a) where provision is made for it to come into force on a particular day, at the beginning of that day;
(b) where no provision is made for its coming into force, at the beginning of the day on which the Act receives the Royal Assent. [4]

This replaces the corresponding provision in the Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793.

Schedule 1 of that Act contains the following definition:

"Commencement", in relation to an Act or enactment, means the time when the Act or enactment comes into force. [5]

Northern Ireland

Sections 14(1) and (2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 read:

(1) Every enactment which is not expressed to come into force or operation on a particular day shall come into operation immediately on the expiration of the day before the date of the passing thereof, or, where the enactment is a statutory instrument, of the making thereof.
(2) Where an enactment is expressed to come into force or operation on a particular day (whether such day is before or after the date of the passing of such enactment, or where the enactment is a statutory instrument, of the making thereof, and whether such day is named in the enactment or is to be appointed or fixed or ascertained in any other manner) the enactment shall be construed as coming into force immediately on the expiration of the day before that particular day. [6]

In an enactment the expression "commencement", when used with reference to any statutory provision, means the time at which that provision comes into operation. [7]

Scotland

Sections 2 and 3 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010, [8] which applies to Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Statutory Instruments, provide-

2 Commencement of Acts of the Scottish Parliament
(1) Subsection (2) applies where no provision is made for the coming into force of an Act of the Scottish Parliament.
(2) The Act comes into force at the beginning of the day after the day on which the Bill for the Act receives Royal Assent.

3 Commencement of Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish instruments: time

(1) Subsection (2) applies where an Act of the Scottish Parliament or a Scottish instrument provides for the Act or instrument to come into force on a particular day.
(2) The Act or instrument comes into force at the beginning of the day.

This replaces the temporary provision made by the Scotland Act 1998 (Transitory and Transitional Provisions) (Publication and Interpretation etc. of Acts of the Scottish Parliament) Order 1999.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statute of Westminster 1931</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Dominions and the Crown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statutory instrument (UK)</span> Type of secondary legislation in the United Kingdom

A statutory instrument (SI) is the principal form in which delegated legislation is made in Great Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law of the Republic of Ireland</span>

The law of the Republic of Ireland consists of constitutional, statutory, and common law. The highest law in the State is the Constitution of Ireland, from which all other law derives its authority. The Republic has a common-law legal system with a written constitution that provides for a parliamentary democracy based on the British parliamentary system, albeit with a popularly elected president, a separation of powers, a developed system of constitutional rights and judicial review of primary legislation.

Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect.

In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions, as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title and a long title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793 is an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain which requires that the clerk of the Parliaments endorse every act of Parliament with the date on which the act passed and the date on which the same received royal assent and that the date is part of the act. The act formerly stated that such date was when the act would come into force unless the relevant act specified some other date instead of the first day of the session in which they were passed. The commencement part of the Act was repealed by the Interpretation Act 1978 and replaced with Section 4 of the same Act, which says the same thing as the repealed portion of the 1793 Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Crown and Parliament Recognition Act 1689 was an Act of the Parliament of England, passed in April 1690 but backdated to the start of the parliamentary session, which started on 20 March 1690. It was designed to confirm the succession to the throne of King William III and Queen Mary II of England and to confirm the validity of the laws passed by the Convention Parliament which had been irregularly convened following the Glorious Revolution and the end of James II's reign.

Citation of United Kingdom legislation includes the systems used for legislation passed by devolved parliaments and assemblies, for secondary legislation, and for prerogative instruments. It is relatively complex both due to the different sources of legislation in the United Kingdom, and because of the different histories of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish statutory instrument</span> Type of law in Scotland

A Scottish statutory instrument is subordinate legislation made by the Scottish Ministers, as well as subordinate legislation made by public bodies using powers provided to be exercisable by Scottish statutory instrument. SSIs are the main form of subordinate legislation in Scotland, being used by default to exercise powers delegated to the Scottish Ministers, the Lord Advocate, the High Court of Justiciary, the Court of Session, and the King-in-Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sources of Singapore law</span> Sources of law in Singapore

There are three general sources of Singapore law: legislation, judicial precedents, and custom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interpretation Act 1978</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Interpretation Act 1978 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act makes provision for the interpretation of Acts of Parliament, Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, Measures of the Church Assembly, subordinate legislation, "deeds and other instruments and documents", Acts of the Scottish Parliament and instruments made thereunder, and Measures and Acts of the National Assembly for Wales and instruments made thereunder. The Act makes provision in relation to: the construction of certain words and phrases, words of enactment, amendment or repeal of Acts in the Session they were passed, judicial notice, commencement, statutory powers and duties, the effect of repeals, and duplicated offences.

In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Act of Parliament (United Kingdom)</span> Primary legislation in the United Kingdom

An Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is primary legislation passed by the UK Parliament in Westminster, London.

In British law and in some related legal systems, an enactment is spent if it is "exhausted in operation by the accomplishment of the purposes for which it was enacted".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1964</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1964 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interpretation Act 1889</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Interpretation Act 1889 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Legal interpretation in South Africa refers to the juridical understanding of South African legislation and case law, and the rules and principles used to construct its meaning for judicial purposes. Broadly speaking there are three means by which and through which South African scholars and jurists construe their country's statutory law: linguistics or semantics, common law and jurisprudence. Although statutory interpretation usually involves a personal predisposition to the text, the goal is generally to "concretise" it: to harmonise text and purpose. This is the final step in the interpretative process. Statutory interpretation is broadly teleological, comprising as it does first the evaluation and then the application of enacted law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Succession to the Crown Act 2013</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the laws of succession to the British throne in accordance with the 2011 Perth Agreement. The Act replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture for those in the line of succession born after 28 October 2011, which means the eldest child, regardless of gender, precedes any siblings. The Act also repealed the Royal Marriages Act 1772, ended disqualification of a person who married a Roman Catholic from succession, and removed the requirement for those outside the first six persons in line to the throne to seek the Sovereign's approval to marry. It came into force on 26 March 2015, at the same time as the other Commonwealth realms implemented the Perth Agreement in their own laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Act of the Scottish Parliament</span> Acts passed by the devolved Scottish Parliament

An act of the Scottish Parliament is primary legislation made by the Scottish Parliament. The power to create acts was conferred to the Parliament by section 28 of the Scotland Act 1998 following the successful 1997 referendum on devolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018</span> United Kingdom legislation

The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to repeal the European Communities Act 1972, and for parliamentary approval to be required for any withdrawal agreement negotiated between the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union. Initially proposed as the Great Repeal Bill, its passage through both Houses of Parliament was completed on 20 June 2018 and it became law by Royal Assent on 26 June.

References

  1. For example, the Government of Ireland Act 1914 never came into force; it received royal assent on 18 September 1914, was suspended by the Suspensory Act 1914, and repealed by the Government of Ireland Act 1920.
  2. "Offences Against the State Act, 1939 s.35". electronic Irish Statute Book. Attorney General of Ireland. 14 June 1939. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  3. Davis, Fergal Francis (February 2007). The history and development of the Special Criminal Court, 1922–2005. Four Courts. ISBN   978-1-84682-013-7.
  4. Copy of section 4 of the Interpretation Act 1978 from Legislation.gov.uk
  5. "Interpretation Act 1978".
  6. "Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954".
  7. The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954, section 46(1)
  8. "Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010".