Medieval laws face axe in legal pruning

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/jun/03/medieval-laws-face-axe-in-legal-pruning

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Legislation dating back to the reign of King Henry II – preventing removal of debtors’ goods from beyond their native county – will shortly disappear from the UK’s lawbooks.

Sections of the Statute of Marlborough, passed in 1267 and the oldest surviving act still in force, are among 200 outdated regulations recommended for repeal in a draft bill published by the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission on Wednesday.

Clearing away the legal undergrowth of ancient clauses that no longer serve any purpose requires regular legal pruning, reversing parliament’s past enthusiasm for new laws.

The latest legislation to get the chop include the India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Works Company (Limited) Act 1884, the Refreshment Houses Act 1860, parts of the Married Women’s Property Act 1882 and the Referendums (Scotland and Wales) Act 1997.

The referendum legislation is obsolete since both votes have already been held, resulting in the creation of the Scottish parliament and Welsh assembly. The most recent repeal is part of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007.

The Statute of Marlborough originally ran to 29 separate chapters; only four remain. Chapters four and 15 – regulating the “taking of unreasonable distresses and the removal of distrained goods out of the debtor’s county” and the “levying of distress off the tenanted property or on a public highway” – are scheduled for the axe.

The Treason Act 1945, updating “complex and archaic” procedures from the 17th century, will also be scrapped. Its sole remaining purpose was to extend the Treason Act 1800 to Northern Ireland – legislation that was itself repealed in 1967.

Other measures destined to be uprooted include a 1536 act to enlarge the churchyard of St Margaret’s Church in Southwark, acts to tax excess profits made by businesses during the second world war and the Upper Assam Tea Company’s Act 1898.

Sir David Lloyd Jones, the chairman of the Law Commission for England and Wales, and Lord Pentland, the chairman of the Scottish Law Commission, said: “[We] are committed to cleaning up and modernising our legislation. The statute book is littered with dead law from down the centuries. Obsolete provisions from as far back as the 13th century continue to survive long after they have ceased to serve any useful purpose.

“This statute law repeals bill is the result of rigorous research and thorough consultation. If implemented, its provisions will help to make the law easier to understand and simpler to use.”

The bill, setting out precise details of the legal purge, will be guided through parliament by the Ministry of Justice. The proposals have already been put out to consultation with government departments and the public.