Statute Law Repeals - Law Commission - Ministry of Justice

2.5 Section 2 abridged the minimum times for capital execution, down from 30 days
to 15 for sentences pronounced in Edinburgh and south of the Firth, and from 40
days to 20 for sentences north of the Firth. Section 6 dealt with the transmission
of prisoners under warrant to gaol or to court, and authorised officers of the law to
effect conveyance through adjoining counties. Each of these sections has now
been superseded. The death penalty in Great Britain was abolished in 1965 and
the position was reinforced across the United Kingdom by the Human Rights Act
1998. 4 The courts and prisons services operate on a national rather than a local
basis, so county boundaries cease to be an operational issue. 5
2.6 The 1830 Act may extend to the UK as a whole, notwithstanding its short title
description.
GROUP 2 - DISTRESS
Statutes of the Exchequer (around 1322)
2.7 In 1267 King Henry III presided over a realm which was beset with “manifold
troubles and dissensions”. 6 One of the problems to be resolved was the need for
more speedy justice so that all layers of society could obtain proper redress for
their grievances.
2.8 As originally enacted the Statute of Marlborough 1267 7 comprised some 29
chapters (and a preamble) covering a range of issues from the taking of distress
without lawful authority to confirmation of royal charters: the Great Charter
(Magna Carta) of 1215 8 and the Charter of the Forests of 1225. 9 Today, only four
chapters survive: chapters 1, 4 and 15 on distress, and chapter 23 on waste.
4 1998 (c.42), as amended by the Human Rights Act 1998 (Amendment) Order 2004 (SI
2004 No.1574). Abolition for the crimes of treason and piracy was effected by section 36 of
the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (c.37).
5 Sections 7 and 13 of the 1830 Act are also live and need to remain so. Section 7 dealt with
the “citation” (or summoning) of jurors and witnesses for trial. Although the opening words
were repealed in 1891, the section was later amended by the Criminal Procedure
(Scotland) Act 1975 (c.21), s 461 and Sch 9 para 5 so that an officer of the law could
summons a juror or witness in a civil proceeding only. Although the 1975 Act was later
repealed by the Criminal Procedure (Consequential Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1995 (c.40),
the amendment relating to civil proceedings was saved and is still required. Section 13
likewise needs to remain in being. It extended the civil immunity of “all inferior judges and
magistrates” when “apprehending any party, or [when acting] in regard to any criminal
cause or proceeding, or to any prosecution for a criminal penalty”.
6 See preamble to the Statute of Marlborough 1267 (52 Hen.3).
7 52 Hen.3 (1267), above.
8 Magna Carta was later re-enacted as 25 Edw.1 cc.1-37 (1297).
9 9 Hen.3 (1225).
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