Chronological Table and Index of the Statutes/Preface

by the Statute Law Committee (UK)

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION (1878).

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This volume consists of two parts which, though separate, are arranged for combined use.

The first is a Chronological Table of all the Statutes, shewing total or partial repeals thereof.

The second is an Index to enactments in force.

The preparation and publication of the work are conducted under the authority of Her Majesty's Government (having been originally undertaken some years ago in pursuance of a suggestion made by the present Lord Chancellor to Lord Chelmsford, then Lord Chancellor), and are placed under the direction of the Statute Law Committee, now consisting of Sir John G. Shaw Lefevre, K.G.B., Sir Thomas Erskine May, K.C.B., Sir Henry Thring, K.C.B., Sir Henry S. Maine, K.C.S.I., Mr. R. R. W. Lingen, C.B., Mr. F. S. Reilly, and Mr. R. O'Hara.

In this edition the Chronological Table is little altered, the Index is extensively improved.

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The Chronological Table is based on the edition of the Record Commissioners, known as The Statutes of the Realm, as far as that edition extends, namely, to the end of the reign of Queen Anne. Thenceforth, Ruffhead's edition, by Serjeant Runnington, 1786, has been followed, as far as it extends, namely, to the end of the session of the twenty-fifth year of the reign of King George the Third. Thence downwards, it is believed, all editions are alike. The variances between the Statutes of the Realm and Ruffhead's edition are shewn in foot notes or in parentheses, and a complete table of those variances is prefixed.

The Chronological Table covers the whole period between the passing of the earliest Statute of the Parliament of England and the end of the latest Session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, namely, the session of 1877 (40 & 41 Vict.). Ante-Union Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland and Ireland are not comprised in the Table. Acts of the Parliament of England extended to Ireland by 10 Hen. 7. c. 22. (I.), Poynings Act, are, in relation to Ireland, treated as ante-Union Acts of the Parliament of Ireland.

The Chronological Table comprises all Acts printed in the Statutes of the Realm, and, after the end of that edition, all Acts classed by the King's or Queen's Printers as Public or as Public General. Many of these Acts, however, cannot be regarded as public Acts, affecting the community generally, being in their nature special or private Acts, relating to particular persons or places, or to private concerns. Acts of this kind are distinguished by the italic entries Local, Personal, Private in the second column of the Table (except in a few cases in which they are shewn to be not in force); and, as a general rule, the Table does not shew repeals affecting these Acts.

The second column of the Chronological Table gives, as regards all Acts of a public nature, wholly or partly in force, the heads in the Index under which they are to be found.

With respect to entries in the third column of the Chronological Table, the following has been the ordinary practice:

(1.) In a few instances, Acts have been repealed in part after having been wholly repealed; — in such cases the later partial repeal is disregarded.
(2.) In other instances, Acts have been repealed more than once; — in such cases a discretion has been exercised as to which repealing Act should be entered, and in some cases more than one are entered.
(3.) Where a repeal has been made nugatory by an express or implied revival, the repeal is generally disregarded.
(4.) Where a temporary Act has been repealed by an Act also temporary, but lasting longer than the original Act would have lasted if not repealed, the repeal is treated as effectual.
(5.) Where an Act has been partially repealed, and afterwards wholly repealed, the total repeal only is entered, except in the case of a partial repeal more extensive territorially than the total repeal.
(6.) In like manner partial repeals, covered by later partial repeals, are frequently omitted.
(7.) The partial determination, otherwise than by express repeal, of an Act which has not wholly ceased to be in force, is not generally noticed.

As regards repeals, total or partial, of Acts extended to Ireland by Poynings Act, the practice has been as follows:

(1.) Where the repeal is in terms limited territorially, so as not to apply to Ireland, the limitation is noticed.
(2.) Where the repeal is not in terms limited territorially, it is entered as unrestricted (even though the repealing Act is an Act of the Parliament of England or of Great Britain, therefore presumably not applying to Ireland).
(3.) Where a partial repeal by an Act of the Parliament of England or of Great Britain, not in terms limited territorially, has been followed by a total repeal as to England only, the partial repeal as well as the total repeal has been entered, though the partial repeal may not in fact extend to Ireland.
Some Acts passed after Poynings Act by the Parliament of England or of Great Britain purport to extend beyond England or Great Britain; repeals of these Acts effected by The Statute Law Revision Act, 1863, (ending with the reign of King James the Second) are entered as unrestricted, though the repealing Act is in terms limited to England; repeals of these Acts effected by Acts other than The Statute Law Revision Act, 1863, which repeals are in terms limited territorially, have been dealt with thus:

(1.) The territorial limitation of the repeal is noticed, in case the Act repealed had a more extensive operation territorially than the repeal.

(2.) In other cases the repeal is entered as unrestricted.

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The foregoing explanations relative to the Chronological Table, as regards editions and classes of Acts, apply to the Index also.

In contemplation of such an improvement of the Index as is begun in this edition, the Statute Law Committee adopted a paper of instructions, prepared by Sir Henry Thring,^[1] the nature and purport of which appear from the following extracts: ****** The general scheme of an index to the Statute Book is to group under comparatively few effective titles the whole of the Statute Law, and to refer by cross titles to the sub-divisions of that Statute Law as found under the proper effective titles. ****** When the subject-matter of an effective title is determined, the mode of expressing that title is to be considered. The object here is to use the most popular title which will designate the subject-matter referred to. Other things being equal, a title consisting of a noun or beginning with a noun substantive should be preferred. ******

The effective title will be followed by a list of the statutes, the enactments of which are indexed under that title. The statutes, as shown in the specimen index. Coroner, will be accompanied, wherever possible, by a slight indication of the distinctive characteristic of each statute.

The subject-matter of an effective title being thus settled, the next step is to arrange the contents of the several statutes constituting that subject-matter, and the consideration of the best mode of arrangement leads to an inquiry into the structure and component parts of Acts of Parliament.

In a complex subject such as that of Public Health, the enactments admit of successive siftings or classifications, which, if carried into effect with care and patience, reduce the matter to such a form as will greatly facilitate the selection of headings and sub-headings, and the distribution of the groups of references under their respective headings and sub-headings, a distribution on which the excellence of an index greatly depends.

The first operation is a very general one. It consists in setting aside by itself all matter extraneous to the main purport of the statute. This matter comprises, as a rule, temporary provisions, repeals, general savings, and particularly local or other exceptional provisions.

****** The main body of the enactments will remain to be disposed of. Begin by dividing them into two general classes:—(1.) Enactments declaring the law; (2.) Enactments providing for the administration of the law. ******

Two great groups, (1) the law, and (2) the administration of the law, will now have been arrived at. Let us take these groups, and see what further general rules can be applied.

A little examination will show that the enactments divide themselves into ordinary and supplemental provisions. The ordinary provisions are such enactments as are in all cases required to carry into effect the material objects of the Act. Supplemental provisions are framed with a view to supply vacancies in offices, defects in procedure, or to declare in detail the mode of carrying into effect legislative acts, the principles of which have been previously laid down.

****** The arrangement of the ordinary and supplemental provisions, where it is necessary to index them separately, should be as follows: The ordinary should precede the supplemental, but they should not be arranged in separate parts, as is usually done in Acts of Parliament, for it will be better in an index that the supplemental provisions applicable to a particular matter should immediately follow the ordinary provisions relating to the same matter.

A point has now been arrived at at which a pause may be made for the purpose of observing the effect of the preceding operations. The framework of the title has been settled to a considerable degree, the arrangement being as follows:—

(1.) Law;

(2.) Administration;

(3.) Exceptional provisions;

(4.) Temporary provisions, savings, and repeals.

The index-maker must now turn his attention to selecting the headings and sub-headings, and to grouping the references under those headings and sub-headings.

Looking, with a view to sub-division, at the large group of enactments that, in the Public Health Act, will range themselves under law and administration, it will be found that they are capable of division into simple enactments and complex enactments.

A simple enactment is one in which the principle is contained in one section. A complex enactment consists of two classes of enactments, principal enactments, and subordinate enactments, of which the principal enactments are occupied in enunciating the law, the subordinate enactments in declaring the procedure by which the law is to be carried into effect. ****** In indexing, the subordinate enactments will not usually require to be noticed separately, but, of course, where they are so noticed they will follow the principal enactment.

On the question of headings and sub-headings a very wide discretion must be left to the index-maker. As a general rule the headings should be but few, and should be very comprehensive, it being borne in mind that nothing is so likely to confuse an inquirer as to find a reference under a heading to which it does not belong, while even if the heading be too comprehensive the only result is that a little more trouble is given the inquirer in finding the reference which he seeks.

The same observations apply to the sub-headings, but with less force. The sub-headings, where used, should indicate the important divisions in the subject-matter of the heading under which they are found.

The references will in general consist of short notices of the various principal enactments, they will be arranged in the natural order of sequence where such order is apparent, and in other cases according to the order of time or of importance, or in such other method as the index-maker may think most appropriate.

These references will, in a complex subject, be grouped under separate headings and sub-headings, while in a simple subject such a division will frequently be unnecessary.

With respect to the number and particularity of the references no general rule can be laid down. The difficulty in framing references consists in finding generic expressions capable of including a sufficient number of enactments without being too vague. The index-maker must judge for himself how far he must guide the inquirer to a particular enactment by a special reference, having regard to the necessity of keeping his title within moderate compass, and in some degree to the question whether the subject-matter with which he is dealing is or is not of such general interest as to require a greater or less degree of minuteness in indexing. ****** A summary of the foregoing rules, with a few additional observations, may be given as follows:—

1. Title.

   (a.) An effective title must generally (subject to the rule of preferring the popular title) begin with a noun substantive; cross titles will begin with a noun substantive or not, according to circumstances.

2. Enumeration of Statutes.

   (b.) If the Statutes are numerous they will be arranged in a double column; see Coroner.

   3. Enactments relating to Law.

(c) These enactments will be grouped, as a general rule, under headings and sub-headings. Principal enactments only, except in special cases, will be noticed separately, and several principal enactments, whenever the index-maker thinks it advisable, may be collected in one reference.

Ordinary enactments will precede supplemental enactments.

References will, as between themselves, be arranged in the natural order of sequence, where such order is apparent, and in other cases according to the order of time or of importance, or in such other method as the index-maker may think most appropriate.

Enactments relating to Administration of Law.

(d.) The directions in (c.) apply here also.

With respect to the interior arrangement, so to speak, of the group, the simpler or lower authority will precede the higher or more complex authority; in the Public Health Act, for example, Sanitary Authority will precede the Local Government Board; in legal proceedings, the Court of First Instance comes before the Court of Appeal, and so forth.

Local, special, or exceptional provisions.

(e.) The above expression, or some part of it, will usually form a heading in the index of a complex subject-matter. The references will be arranged according to (c.)

Temporary provisions; Repeals; Savings.

(f.) Usually the above-mentioned provisions will not require to be indexed: when they do so require, one or more of the above expressions will form the heading.

With respect to the composition of the index, references should whenever practicable be expressed by substantives or participles used as substantives.

The above rules can only be considered as general instructions, admitting of many exceptions. It must, however, not be forgotten that uniformity in the framework of an index is of great importance, as it enables the inquirer to look at once for the proper heading under which he will probably find the information of which he is in search. ****** An Appendix is subjoined of rules which it has been thought better to group together in an Appendix, instead of embodying them in the instructions. ******

Appendix.

1. The present Parts for Scotland and Ireland and Colonies are to be combined with the general Part.
2. Where the subject comprises a separate series of enactments for S. or I. only, the entries are to be subjoined separately to the general entries or main part.
3. Entries, when extending to E. and S. and I, are not to be marked U.K. (as they are in the House of Lords Index), but to be left without any distinguishing mark.
4. Entries in the main part are to be marked according to the fact, thus—

E.
E. S.
E. I.

but E. is not to be put on Acts passed before the union of E. and S.

1. Where a series of enactments (as those relating to Reformatory and Industrial Schools) extend some to S. only, some to S. or I. only, some to E. and S. or I., the index-maker is to determine, according to circumstances, whether the entries of those extending to S. or I. only are to be in the subjoined part for S. or I. only, or are to be in the main part.
2. The beat way of dealing with such cases as Cinque Ports, Langbaurgh, and so forth, under Coroner, is to make a separate sub-head. Local and Special (see Coroner), and group there all exceptional cases, with short explanatory entries.
3. What is wanted is not an index of words, but an index of things; and, therefore, there is no need to give a reference to every enactment in which a particular officer (Sheriff, for instance) may happen to be mentioned, unless some function requiring to be indexed is attached to him
4. When the same enactment occurs in several Statutes they should all be mentioned, and not only the most recent.
5. When the information is contained in the Schedule to an Act, the reference should be to the Schedule, and also to the section which gives effect to the Schedule.

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14. Notice of partial repeals, where important, should be taken in the Index by entering a reference to the repealing Act without further comment. This rule does not extend to entering repeals made by the Statute Law Revision Acts.
15. Wherever practicable, the operation of successive Acts in relation to the same subject-matter should be stated; for example, 13 & 14 Vict. c. 37. extends the Juvenile Offenders Acts (10 & 11 Vict. c. 82.) to offenders of 16 years of age; such an extension should be set out in the Index.
16. Wherever practicable, the particular sections of an Act, the effect of which is stated in the reference, should be set out, instead of a reference being made to the whole Act.

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In pursuance of these instructions, the Index has been re-arranged and in various parts improved by Mr. W. L. Selfe, of the Chancery Bar, as Editor of this edition, and the portions under the following headings have been recast by the several gentlemen at the Bar named opposite the headings.

Borough, Municipal		by Mr. C. P. Ilbert.
Burial		by Mr. P. V. Smith.
Charities		by Mr. C. E. Jemmett.
Clerk of Justices or the Peace		by Mr. C. S. Maine.
Company		by Mr. G. A. R. Fitz-Gerald.
Company, Scotland		by the Editor.
Coroner		by Mr. C. S. Maine.
Corrupt Practices	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	by the Editor.
Customs
Dean and Chapter	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	by Mr. T. H. W. Pelham.
Ecclesiastical Commission (including the Church Building Acts)
Highways
House of Commons		by Mr. C. E. Jemmett.
Inclosure		by Mr. H. J. Hood.
Justice of the Peace		by Mr. C. S. Maine.
Lighthouses		by Mr. C. P. Ilbert.
Limitation of Time	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	by Mr. H. T. Banning.
Limitation of Time, Ireland
Lunatic		by Mr. J. H. Stronge.
Master and Servant	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	by Mr. C. P. Ilbert.
Master and Servant, Scotland
Master and Servant, Ireland
Merchant Shipping
Mortmain		by Mr. C. E. Jemmett.
Post Office		by Mr. A. C. Meysey Thompson.
Prescription	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	by Mr. H. T. Banning.
Prescription, Ireland
Public Health	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	by Mr. G. A. R. Fitz-Gerald.
Public Health, Metropolis
Public Health, Ireland
Railway	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	by Mr. A. C. Meysey Thompson.
Railway, Scotland
Railway, Ireland
Registration of Births, &c.		by Mr. A. J. Flaxman.
Sessions		by Mr.C. S. Maine.
Sheriff		by Mr. G. A. R. Fitz-Gerald.

In the Index the abbreviation "&c." used thus—"s. 10., &c."—indicates that sect. 10. of the Act referred to is the principal or first section relating to the subject specified, and that other sections of the Act relate to the same subject; the same abbreviation used thus—"Acting of plays, &c.,"—indicates matter of the same or a like kind as the matter specified.

The Index is followed by a series of Appendices containing references to various kinds of Acts which have been classed and printed among the Public or Public General Acts, but the contents of which, for various reasons (such as will ordinarily be obvious), it has not been considered desirable to examine and index in detail. Some of these Acts may not be in force. The contents of some of the Appendices given in the former editions have in this edition been transferred by the Editor to the body of the work.

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The Statute Law Committee are desirous of receiving suggestions for the improvement of this work. Communications may be addressed to their Secretary, Mr. H. C. Malkin, at the House of Lords.

The Committee hope to be able for the future to issue a new edition of this work annually.

January 1878.

 

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1. These instructions form part of a paper, headed Statute Law Committee, printed for each House of Parliment, Session 1877. H.L. 117., H.C. 288 (Price 3d.)