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InBritish law and in somerelated legal systems, anenactment isspent if it is "exhausted in operation by the accomplishment of the purposes for which it was enacted".[1][2]
The scope ofStatute Law Revision Bills includes the repeal of spent enactments.[3]
The repeal of spent legislation is primarily the responsibility of theLaw Commission. They prepareBills to be passed asStatute Law (Repeals) Acts.
The following types of enactment are now spent oncoming into force:
Section 19(2) of theInterpretation Act 1978 provides that an Act may continue to be cited by theshort title authorised by any enactment notwithstanding the repeal of that enactment. This applies to Acts whenever they were passed.[4]
Accordingly, any enactment whose sole effect is to confer a short title on an Act now becomes spent on coming into force; and any enactment already in force whose sole effect is to confer a short title on an Act is also spent.
Those enactments which conferred short titles on large numbers of statutes have been repealed on this basis.[5][6]
Section 15 of theInterpretation Act 1978 provides that where an Act repeals a repealing enactment, the repeal does not revive any enactment previously repealed unless words are added reviving it. This applies to Acts passed after the year 1850.[7]
Accordingly, any enactment whose sole effect is to repeal another enactment now becomes spent on coming into force; and any enactment, which is already in force, whose sole effect is to repeal another enactment is also spent.
An enactment that authorises anadvisory referendum (which does not trigger a legislative change or bind the government to do something) becomes spent once the referendum has taken place.[citation needed] Hence theReferendum Act 1975 became spent after the1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum took place, and was subsequently repealed by theStatute Law (Repeals) Act 1986. Likewise the parts of theEuropean Union Referendum Act 2015 that authorised the2016 EU membership referendum and regulated its execution are now spent. However, this Act also contains provisions regulating funding of and expenditure by political campaign groups under the framework of thePolitical Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, which has the potential to lead to criminal convictions under the 2000 Act, and as such those provisions continue to be relevant until such time as Parliament decides no more such offences will be discovered or prosecuted.[citation needed]
In the rare case that an enactment exists instead to trigger an election (Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019), it is also spent once the election takes place.[citation needed]
Standing orders may make provision different from that required by section 36(1) of theScotland Act 1998 for the procedure applicable to Bills which repeal spent enactments.[8]
Part I of Schedule 4 to the Scotland Act 1998 does not prevent anAct of the Scottish Parliament repealing any spent enactment or conferring power bysubordinate legislation to do so.[9]
The standing orders may make provision different from that required by section 98(1) of theGovernment of Wales Act 2006 for the procedure applicable to proposed Assembly Measures which repeal or revoke spent enactments.[10]
Part 2 of Schedule 5 to the Government of Wales Act 2006 does not prevent a provision of an Assembly Measure repealing or revoking any spent enactment, or conferring power by subordinate legislation to do so.[11]
The standing orders may make provision different from that required by section 111(1) of the Government of Wales Act 2006 for the procedure applicable to Bills which repeal or revoke spent enactments.[12]
Part 2 of Schedule 7 to the Government of Wales Act 2006 does not prevent an Act of the Assembly repealing or revoking any spent enactment, or conferring power by subordinate legislation to do so.[13]
