Law Commissions' plans to update cluttered statute book

An Act from 1979 allowing referendums for a Scottish parliament and the Welsh Assembly is among a whole host of legislation being recommended for repeal by the Law Commissions.

A new report, published by the Law Commission for England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission, proposes clearing away more than 200 antiquated laws currently cluttering the statute book.

The Acts being recommended for repeal are set out in a draft Statute Law (Repeals) Bill, which covers a wide range of topics from agriculture and churches to trade and industry and taxation. It also includes:

• An Act of 1865 to help the Assam Company run its tea plantations in British India;

• An Act of 1788 to raise money to rebuild St Mary's Church, Paddington;

• Thirty-six tax Acts from the 19th and 20th centuries, including Acts to tax excess profits made by businesses during the Second World War;

• A 1938 Act to maintain stocks of food and fuel in the event of war;

• A 1939 Act to protect the public against the mis-selling of insurance for war damage to their homes;

• A 1964 Act to clear away slums and promote house building; and

• Four Acts about the recently abolished Foreign Compensation Commission.

The earliest repeal is from the Statute of Marlborough 1267. Passed during the reign of Henry III, pictured, the statute is one of the oldest surviving pieces of legislation.

The statute was signed 32 years after the first ever act of parliament and predates the assimilation of Magna Carta into English law, which was not copied into the statute rolls until 1297.

The law controlled the principle of distress, which allowed landlords to enter a debtor's property and seize goods. However, the ancient power was abolished by parts of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act that came into force in March 2014.

The most recent repeal is part of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007.

Sir David Lloyd Jones, chairman of the Law Commission for England and Wales, and Lord Pentland, chairman of the Scottish Law Commission, said in a joint statement: 'The statute book is littered with dead law from down the centuries. Obsolete provisions from as far back as the 13th century continue to survive long after they have ceased to serve any useful purpose.

'This Statute Law Repeals Bill is the result of rigorous research and thorough consultation. If implemented, its provisions will help to make the law easier to understand and simpler to use.'

The report, 'Statute Law Repeals: Twentieth Report', is available to view here.