The Statute Law Revision and Civil Procedure Act 1881 (44 & 45 Vict. c. 59) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed for England and Wales enactments relating to civil procedure from 1235 to 1880 which had ceased to be in force or had become necessary. The act was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of the revised edition of the statutes, then in progress.

Background

In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed. Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in the late 18th-century, raised questions about the system and structure of the common law and the poor drafting and disorder of the existing statute book.

From 1810 to 1825, The Statutes of the Realm was published, providing the first authoritative collection of acts. The first statute law revision act was not passed until 1856 with the Repeal of Obsolete Statutes Act 1856 (19 & 20 Vict. c. 64). This approach — focusing on removing obsolete laws from the statute book followed by consolidation — was proposed by Peter Locke King MP, who had been highly critical of previous commissions' approaches, expenditures, and lack of results. +Previous statute law revision actsYearpassedTitleCitationEffect1861 Statute Law Revision Act 186124 & 25 Vict. c. 101 Repealed or amended over 800 enactments1863 Statute Law Revision Act 186326 & 27 Vict. c. 125Repealed or amended over 1,600 enactments for England and Wales1867 Statute Law Revision Act 1867 30 & 31 Vict. c. 59Repealed or amended over 1,380 enactments1870 Statute Law Revision Act 1870 33 & 34 Vict. c. 69Repealed or amended over 250 enactments1871Promissory Oaths Act 1871 34 & 35 Vict. c. 48 Repealed or amended almost 200 enactments1871 Statute Law Revision Act 1871 34 & 35 Vict. c. 116Repealed or amended over 1,060 enactments1872Statute Law Revision Act 1872 35 & 36 Vict. c. 63Repealed or amended almost 490 enactments1872Statute Law (Ireland) Revision Act 187235 & 36 Vict. c. 98Repealed or amended over 1,050 enactments1872Statute Law Revision Act 1872 (No. 2) 35 & 36 Vict. c. 97Repealed or amended almost 260 enactments1873Statute Law Revision Act 1873 36 & 37 Vict. c. 91Repealed or amended 1,225 enactments1874Statute Law Revision Act 1874 37 & 38 Vict. c. 35Repealed or amended over 490 enactments1874Statute Law Revision Act 1874 (No. 2)37 & 38 Vict. c. 96Repealed or amended almost 470 enactments1875Statute Law Revision Act 1875 38 & 39 Vict. c. 66Repealed or amended over 1,400 enactments1876Statute Law Revision (Substituted Enactments) Act 1876 39 & 40 Vict. c. 20Updated references to repealed acts1878Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1878 41 & 42 Vict. c. 57Repealed or amended over 460 enactments passed by the Parliament of Ireland1878Statute Law Revision Act 1878 41 & 42 Vict. c. 79Repealed or amended over 90 enactments1879Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1879 42 & 43 Vict. c. 24Repealed or amended over 460 enactments passed by the Parliament of Ireland1879Civil Procedure Acts Repeal Act 1879 42 & 43 Vict. c. 59Repealed or amended over 130 enactments

Passage The Statute Law Revision and Civil Procedure Bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on 1 July 1881, presented by the Lord Chancellor, Roundell Palmer, 1st Baron Selborne. The bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 7 July 1881, introduced by the Lord Chancellor, Roundell Palmer, 1st Baron Selborne, and was committed to a committee of the whole house, which met and reported on 8 July 1881, without amendments. The bill had its third reading in the House of Lords on 15 July 1881 and passed, without amendments.

The bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 20 July 1881. The bill had its second reading in the House of Commons on 26 July 1881 and, following a division, was committed to a committee of the whole house, which met and reported on 18 August 1881, without amendments. The bill had its third reading in the House of Commons on 22 August 1881 and passed, without amendments.

The bill was granted royal assent on 27 August 1881.

Subsequent developments The act was criticised for not including any repeals related to the Common Law Procedure Act 1852 (15 & 16 Vict. c. 76) and for not repealing Keating's Act (18 & 19 Vict. c. 67). The act was also criticised for repealing part of the Statute of Frauds (29 Cha. 2. c. 33) and for reviving the power of surveyors of taxes to make domiciliary visits, a power taken away by the Taxes Management Act 1880 (43 & 44 Vict. c. 19).

The schedule to the act was repealed by section 1 of, and the first schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 54), which came into force on 25 August 1894.

The Crown Office Rules 1906 were made under the authority conferred by this section. As to this section and those rules, see R v Amendt.R v Amendt 2 KB 276 ; (1915) 113 LT 35 ; (1915) 84 LJKB 1259 ; (1914) 30 TLR 543 ; (1915) 31 TLR 287 ; (1914) 78 JP 388 ; (1915) 79 JP 324 . See also The Law Reports, Ten Years' Digest, 1911 to 1920, p dccxiii; and Halsbury's Statutes of England, 1st Ed, Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd, 1930, vol 13: , p 236; Darby, Bosanquet and Marchant, A Practical Treatise on the Statutes of Limitations in England and Ireland, 2nd Ed, 1893, p 538.

Section 6 of the act was repealed by section 226(1) of, and schedule 6 to, the Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation) Act 1925 (15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 49), which came into force on 1 January 1926.

The whole act was repealed by section 1(1) of, and part XI of schedule 1 to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989, which came into force on 16 November 1989.

Repealed enactments Section 2 of the act provided that the act did not extend to Scotland or Ireland.

Section 3 of the act repealed 98 enactments, listed in the schedule to the act, across six categories:

Expired Spent Repealed in general terms Virtually repealed Superseded Obsolete

Section 4 of the act included several safeguards to ensure that the repeal does not negatively affect existing rights or ongoing legal matters. Specifically, any legal rights, privileges, or remedies already obtained under the repealed laws, as well as any legal proceedings or principles established by them, remain unaffected. Section 1 of the act also ensured that repealed enactments that have been incorporated into other laws would continue to have legal effect in those contexts.

Section 5 of the act provided that any repeals would not revive any former rights, offices, or jurisdictions that had already been abolished.

Section 6 of the act extended the powers in the Judicature Acts, including the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 77) to make rules of court.