Repeal

A repeal is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal, a repeal with a re-enactment (or replacement) of the repealed law, or a repeal without any replacement. A repeal is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal, a repeal with a re-enactment (or replacement) of the repealed law, or a repeal without any replacement. Removal of secondary legislation is normally referred to as revocation rather than repeal in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Under the common law of England and Wales, the effect of repealing a statute was 'to obliterate it completely from the records of Parliament as though it had never been passed.' This, however, is now subject to savings provisions within the Interpretation Act 1978. In parliamentary procedure, the motion to rescind, repeal, or annul is used to cancel or countermand an action or order previously adopted by the assembly. A partial repeal occurs when a specified part or provision of a previous Act is repealed but other provisions remain in force. For example, the Acts of Union 1800, providing for the union between the formerly separate kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland as the United Kingdom, was partially repealed in 1922, when (as a consequence of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty), twenty-six of the thirty-two counties of Ireland were constituted as the Irish Free State, and ceased to form part of the United Kingdom. A full repeal occurs where the entire Act in question is repealed. A typical situation where an Act is repealed and re-enacted is where the law in the area is being updated but the law being repealed needs to be replaced with one suitable for the modern era. Re-enactment can be with or without amendment, although repeal and re-enactment without amendment normally occurs only in the context of a consolidation bill (a bill to consolidate the law in a particular area). For example, the repeal of the Poor Laws in England in 1948 reflected their replacement by modern social welfare legislation. A repeal without replacement is generally done when a law is no longer effective, or it is shown that a law is having far more negative consequences than were originally envisioned. If a campaign for the repeal of a particular law gains particular momentum, an advocate of the repeal might become known as a 'repealer'. The Repeal Association in 19th-century Ireland advocated Irish independence through repeal of the Acts of Union 1800.