Repeal
Repeal is the removal or reversal of a law.
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Repeal is the removal or reversal of a law. The term originates from Old French (rapel, modern rappel), derived from rapeler or rappeler, meaning to revoke, itself from re- and appeler (to appeal). There are two basic types of repeal: a repeal with re-enactment, which replaces the law with an updated, amended, or otherwise related version, and a repeal without replacement, which abolishes its provisions altogether.
Partial or full repeals
A partial repeal occurs when a specified part or provision of a previous act is removed while other provisions remain in force; for instance, the Acts of Union 1800, which united Great Britain and Ireland, were partially repealed in 1922 when twenty-six of Ireland’s thirty-two counties became the Irish Free State and ceased to be part of the United Kingdom. A full repeal removes the entire act in question. Repeal with re-enactment is typical when updating an area of law, and re-enactment without amendment normally occurs only in a consolidation bill.
Repeal without replacement often happens when a law is no longer effective or has produced far more negative consequences than envisioned. Major examples include the repeal of the Corn Laws in England in 1846, the repeal of Prohibition in the United States via the Twenty-first Amendment (the only constitutional amendment ever repealed), and the Statute Law Revision Act 2007 in Ireland, which repealed 3,225 Acts dating back to 1171. A repeal may be express, using explicit words in a statute (as in the United States, where all repeals of codified law are express), or implied, where a later statute is mutually inconsistent with an earlier one, repealing it pro tanto (to the extent of the inconsistency). Repeals can be with savings, which preserve the effect of the repealed statute for limited purposes (such as retaining granted rights), or without savings, which eliminate the statute completely.
Repeals with or without savings
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, removal of secondary legislation is normally called revocation rather than repeal. Under the common law of England and Wales, the effect of repealing a statute was once to obliterate it completely as though it had never been passed, though this is now subject to savings provisions in the Interpretation Act 1978. In parliamentary procedure, the motion to rescind, repeal, or annul is used to cancel or countermand a previously adopted action.
Lore & Background
A repeal is the removal or reversal of a law, derived from the Old French rapel. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the removal of secondary legislation is specifically termed revocation. Repeals can be partial, where only a specified provision of an act is removed while other parts remain in force, or full, where an entire act is abolished.
A repeal may occur with a re-enactment, replacing the old law with an updated or amended version—common in consolidation bills or when modernizing legislation, such as the replacement of the Poor Laws in England with modern social welfare. Alternatively, a repeal without replacement is enacted when a law becomes ineffective or produces worse consequences than intended, often reflecting major societal shifts, as seen with the repeal of Jim Crow laws, the Corn Laws in England, or the repeal of Prohibition in the United States. Repeals can be express, using explicit language in a new statute—as is standard in the United States, where Congress must pass a new law deleting the codified text from the U.S. Code—or implied, where a later statute is inconsistent with an earlier one, thereby repealing it pro tanto.
Repeals may also include savings provisions, which preserve the effect of the repealed law for limited purposes, such as maintaining rights granted under it. Under English common law, a repealed statute was once considered obliterated from parliamentary records, though this is now subject to savings under the Interpretation Act 1978. In parliamentary procedure, a motion to rescind or annul is used to cancel a previously adopted action.
Reader's Guide
Repeal is a fundamental mechanism in legal systems for updating or removing laws. It can be express, where explicit words in a statute repeal an earlier one, or implied, where two statutes are mutually inconsistent and the later statute repeals the earlier one pro tanto.
In the United States, all repeals of parts of the U.S. Code are express, requiring Congress to pass a new law containing repeal language. Repeals can be with or without savings; a repeal without savings eliminates the repealed statute completely, while a repeal with savings preserves its effect for limited purposes. In parliamentary procedure, the motion to rescind, repeal, or annul requires a two-thirds vote, a majority vote with previous notice, or a vote of a majority of the entire membership under Robert's Rules of Order, while The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure requires only the same vote and notice as the original action.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Repeal (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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