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Statute Law Revision, Codification and Related Policies in Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2019

Edward Donelan
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Extract

This article examines the development of a policy by the Government of Ireland on the modernization of its statute law and describes recent developments in statute law revision and related policies in Ireland. In theory, the ideal and ultimate aim of such a policy should be the development of an easily accessible code.

In practice, there is no political requirement for such grandiose idealism and what is taking place is much more pragmatic and modest. The article places these policies in the wider context of the modernization of government and anticipates some of the likely developments to emerge in this field in Ireland in the next 5 years.

Type
Articles
Information
International Journal of Legal Information , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , Summer 2001 , pp. 323 - 354
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 by the International Association of Law Libraries 

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References

1 Halsbury's Laws of England Vol 44 (1995) (London) para 1225.Google Scholar

2 Strictly speaking there is no statute book as such but it is easier to speak of a statute book than list all the different sources that make up Irish statute law.Google Scholar

3 Statutes and statutory instruments from 1922 to 1998 are available on a CD ROM.Google Scholar

4 E.g. Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993, will be updated in 2003.Google Scholar

5 The position compares unfavorably with Canada and Australia where ate a Federal and State level laws are revised regularly making their statute books at Federal and State level very accessible.Google Scholar

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9 The Title of the Unit was changed by the Director with the approval of the Management Advisory Committee to the Statute Law Revision Unit on the basis that the term revision encompassed consolidation.Google Scholar

10 Edward Donelan, M.A., Dip. Eur. Law, Dip. Arb., barrister-at-law.Google Scholar

11 The Unit was established in accordance with Government Decision S.29588E of 24 February, 1998, which accepted the recommendations for a law revision and consolidation unit as set out in the Report of the Review Group on the Law Offices of the State.Google Scholar

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13 On his appointment the Director had consultations with most of the Secretary Generals General's of Departments, heads of Offices and Assistant Secretaries.Google Scholar

14 Despite the establishment of the Unit in the period February 1999 and March 2000 no resources were allocated to the Unit apart from the assignment of the Director and a law graduate on contract who was contracted only to keep the Chronological Tables to the Statutes and Statutory Instruments up to date. At the time of writing this situation is set to improve but it will still only be capable of undertaking a modest programme.Google Scholar

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16 In 1994 the then Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Albert Reynolds announced a programme of modernizing the civil service known as the Strategic Management Initiative.Google Scholar

17 It was eventually published in 1999.Google Scholar

18 Announced by the Taoiseach as Government policy and published I July, 1999.Google Scholar

19 Announced by the Taoiseach and published in July 1999.Google Scholar

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25 Ibid., p. 7.Google Scholar

26 For example, see Reprints Act, 1972 (New South Wales).Google Scholar

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35 Discussions on codification included a paper on the codification of Canon law that took ten years but no easy answers were presented and without a political imperative codification will remain a pipe dream.Google Scholar

36 Faut il Codifier le droit. Revue Francaise d'Administration Publiqu No 82 June 1997.Google Scholar