Continuance of Laws Act 1768
The Continuance of Laws Act 1768 (8 Geo. 3. Sess. 2. c. 1) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that continued various older acts.
Background
In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed. Many acts of parliament, however, contained time-limited sunset clauses, requiring legislation to revive enactments that had expired or to continue enactments that would otherwise expire.[1]
Provisions
Continued enactments
Section 1 of the act continued the Importation and Exportation (No. 6) Act 1766 (7 Geo. 3. c. 3), as continued and amended by the Exportation and Importation Act 1768 (8 Geo. 3. c. 1), together with the amendments in that act, until the 20th day after the start of the next session of parliament.[2]
Section 2 of the act continued the Importation (No. 7) Act 1766 (7 Geo. 3. c. 22) and the Importation (No. 4) Act 1766 (7 Geo. 3. c. 8), as continued by the Exportation and Importation (No. 2) Act 1768 (8 Geo. 3. c. 2), until the 20th day after the start of the next session of parliament.[2]
Section 3 of the act provided that all other acts which had continuance until the end of the present session of parliament would continue until the end of the next session of parliament.[2]
Legacy
The Select Committee on Temporary Laws, Expired or Expiring, appointed in 1796, inspected and considered all temporary laws, observing irregularities in the construction of expiring laws continuance acts, making recommendations and emphasising the importance of the Committee for Expired and Expiring Laws.[3]
The whole act was repealed by section 1 of, and the schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. 59).
Notes
- ^ Start of session.
References
- ^ Imprisonment in Medieval England. CUP Archive. p. 345.
- ^ a b c Britain, Great (1768). Statutes at Large ...: (43 v.) ... From Magna charta to 1800. Vol. 28. pp. 137–138.
- ^ Commons, Great Britain Parliament House of (1803). Reports from Committees of the House of Commons which Have Been Printed by Order of the House: And are Not Inserted in the Journals [1715-1801. Vol. 14. pp. 34–118.