 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Inlaw,coming into force orentry into force (also calledcommencement) is theprocess by whichlegislation,regulations,treaties and otherlegal instruments come to havelegal force and effect. The term is closely related to thedate of this transition. The point at which such instrument comes into effect may be set out in the instrument itself, or after the lapse of a certain period, or upon the happening of a certain event, such as a proclamation or an objective event, such as the birth, marriage, reaching a particular age or death of a certainperson. On rare occasions,[which?] the effective date of a law may be backdated to a date before the enactment.[citation needed]
To come into force, a treaty or Act first needs to receive the required number of votes or ratifications. Although it is common practice to stipulate this number as a requirement in the body of the treaty itself, it can also be set out in a superior law or legal framework, such as aconstitution or thestanding orders of thelegislature in which it originated.
"Coming into force" generally includes publication in anofficial gazette so that people know the law or treaty exists.
After their adoption, treaties as well as theiramendments may have to follow the official legal procedures of the organisation, such as the United Nations, that sponsored it, includingsignature,ratification, and entry into force.
The process of enactment, by which abill becomes anAct, is separate from commencement. Even if a bill passes through all necessary stages to become an Act, it may not automatically come into force. Moreover, an Act may be repealed having never come into force.[1]
A country's law could determine that on being passed by lawmakers a bill becomes an act without further ado. However, more usually, the process whereby a bill becomes an Act is well prescribed in generalconstitutional oradministrative legislation. This process varies from country to country, and frompolitical system to political system.
Typically, the process by which a bill becomes an Act includes signature or some other token of assent by thehead of state and publication in an officialgazette. In some systems, the head of state or some other official is required to definitely signify his approval, as for example in the granting ofroyal assent in theCommonwealth realms. In others, a bill automatically becomes an Act unlessvetoed, as for example in theUnited States. But these steps do not, in themselves, make an act legally binding on the population. An act is typically brought into force in one of three ways:
It is not necessarily the case that a statute which comes into force remains in force until it is repealed; it may be explicitly brought out of force, and perhaps later brought back into force. For example, in Ireland, Section V of theOffences against the State Act 1939 (which provides for theSpecial Criminal Court) goes in and out of force bygovernment proclamation:[2] it was brought into force on 24 August 1939, out of force on 2 October 1962, and back into force on 26 May 1972.[3]
Section 4 of theInterpretation Act 1978 (c. 30) provides:
An Act or provision of an Act comes into force—
- (a) where provision is made for it to come into force on a particular day, at the beginning of that day;
- (b) where no provision is made for its coming into force, at the beginning of the day on which the Act receives theRoyal Assent.[4]
This replaces the corresponding provision in theActs of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793 (33 Geo. 3. c. 13).
Schedule 1 of that act contains the following definition:
"Commencement", in relation to an Act or enactment, means the time when the Act or enactment comes into force.[5]
Sections 14(1) and (2) of theInterpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 (c. 33 (N.I.)) read:
(1) Every enactment which is not expressed to come into force or operation on a particular day shall come into operation immediately on the expiration of the day before the date of the passing thereof, or, where the enactment is a statutory instrument, of the making thereof.
(2) Where an enactment is expressed to come into force or operation on a particular day (whether such day is before or after the date of the passing of such enactment, or where the enactment is a statutory instrument, of the making thereof, and whether such day is named in the enactment or is to be appointed or fixed or ascertained in any other manner) the enactment shall be construed as coming into force immediately on the expiration of the day before that particular day.[6]
In an enactment the expression "commencement", when used with reference to any statutory provision, means the time at which that provision comes into operation.[7]
Sections 2 and 3 of theInterpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010,[8] which applies toActs of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Statutory Instruments, provide-
2 Commencement of Acts of the Scottish Parliament
(1) Subsection (2) applies where no provision is made for the coming into force of an Act of the Scottish Parliament.
(2) The Act comes into force at the beginning of the day after the day on which the Bill for the Act receives Royal Assent.
3 Commencement of Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish instruments: time
(1) Subsection (2) applies where an Act of the Scottish Parliament or a Scottish instrument provides for the Act or instrument to come into force on a particular day.
(2) The Act or instrument comes into force at the beginning of the day.
This replaces the temporary provision made by the Scotland Act 1998 (Transitory and Transitional Provisions) (Publication and Interpretation etc. of Acts of the Scottish Parliament) Order 1999.
The dictionary definition ofenforcement at Wiktionary
