Wikipedia

Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
 
(42 intermediate revisions by 36 users not shown)
Line 1:
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of Colonial Laws.
|statute_book_chapter=28 & 29 Vict. c. 63▼
| year = 1865
|introduced_by=
▲|statute_book_chapter citation = [[28 & 29 Vict.]] c. 63
|territorial_extent=▼
| introduced_commons =
|royal_assent=29 June 1865▼
| introduced_lords =
|commencement=▼
▲| territorial_extent =
|repeal_date= ▼
▲| royal_assent = 29 June 1865
|amendments=
▲| commencement =
|related_legislation=▼
| expiry_date =
|repealing_legislation=▼
▲| repeal_date =
|status=Current
| amends =
|original_text=
| replaces =
|activeTextDocId=
| amendments = {{ubli|indent=1em|[[Statute Law Revision Act 1893]]|[[Statute of Westminster 1931]]|[[Burma Independence Act 1947]]|[[Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1976]]|[[Belize Act 1981]]|[[Australia Act 1986]]|[[Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989]]}}
|legislation_history=▼
▲| repealing_legislation =
|}}▼
▲| related_legislation =
The '''Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865''' (28 & 29 Vict. c. 63) is an [[Act of Parliament|Act]] of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]. Its [[long title]] is "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of Colonial Laws".▼
| status = Amended
▲| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/28-29/63/enacted
| revised_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/28-29/63
| use_new_UK-LEG = no
▲|}}
 
▲The '''Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865'''{{notetag|The citation of this Act by this [[short title]] was authorised by the [[Short Titles Act 1896]], section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the [[Interpretation Act 1978]].}} ([[28 & 29 Vict.]] c. 63) is an [[Act of Parliament|Act]] of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]. Its [[long title]] is "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of Colonial Laws".
The purpose of the Act was to remove any apparent inconsistency between local (colonial) and British ("imperial") legislation. Thus it confirmed that colonial legislation (provided it had been passed in the proper manner) was to have full effect within the colony, limited only to the extent that it was in contradiction with ("repugnant to") any Act of Parliament that contained powers which extended beyond the boundaries of the [[United Kingdom]] to include that colony. This had the effect of strengthening the position of colonial legislatures, while at the same time restating their ultimate subordination to the [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]] Parliament.▼
 
▲The purpose of the Act was to remove any apparent inconsistency between local (colonial) and British ("imperial") legislation. Thus it confirmed that colonial legislation (provided it had been passed in the proper manner) was to have full effect within the colony, limited only to the extent that it was not in contradiction with ("repugnant to") any Act of Parliament that contained powers which extended beyond the boundaries of the [[United Kingdom]] to include that colony. This had the effect of clarifying and strengthening the position of colonial legislatures, while at the same time restating their ultimate subordination to the [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]] Parliament.
Until the passage of the Act, a number of colonial statutes had been struck down by local judges on the grounds of repugnancy to English laws (whether or not those English laws had been intended by Parliament to be effective in the colony). This had been a particular problem for the [[Government of South Australia|government]] in [[South Australia]], where [[Benjamin Boothby|Justice Benjamin Boothby]] had struck down local statutes on numerous occasions in the colony's [[Supreme Court of South Australia|Supreme Court]].▼
 
▲Until the passage of the Act, a number of colonial statutes had been struck down by local judges on the grounds of repugnancy to [[English lawslaw]]s, (whether or not those English laws had been intended by Parliament to be effective in the colony). This had been a particular problem for the [[Government of South Australia|government]] in [[South Australia]], where [[Benjamin Boothby|Justice Benjamin Boothby]] had struck down local statutes on numerous occasions in the colony's [[Supreme Court of South Australia|the colony's Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Roberts-Wray |first=Sir Kenneth |title=Commonwealth and Colonial Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WOuAAAAIAAJ |publisher= Stevens & Sons| date=1966 |page=396 |isbn=9780420395801 |jstor=1094286 }}</ref>
By the mid-1920s it was accepted by the [[British government]] that the [[British Dominions|dominions]] would have full legislative autonomy. This was given legislative effect in 1931 by the [[Statute of Westminster 1931]], which repealed the application of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 to the dominions (i.e. [[Canada]], the [[Irish Free State]], [[New Zealand]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]], and the [[Union of South Africa]]).
 
TheBy Statutethe ofmid-1920s, Westminsterthe took[[British effectgovernment]] inaccepted that the [[AustraliaBritish Dominions|dominions]] inshould 1942have withfull legislative autonomy. Accordingly, the passingimperial ofParliament passed the [[Statute of Westminster Adoption1931|Statute Actof 1942Westminster]], withwhich retroactive effect to 3 September 1939,repealed the startapplication of [[World War II]]. Thethe Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 continued to havethe applicationdominions in(i.e., individual[[Australia]], [[StatesCanada]], andthe territories[[Irish ofFree Australia|Australian statesState]], until[[New theZealand]], [[AustraliaDominion Actof 1986Newfoundland|Newfoundland]], cameand intothe effect[[Union inof 1986South Africa]]).
 
The Statute of Westminster took effect immediately in Canada, the Irish Free State and South Africa. Australia adopted the Statute in 1942 with the passing of the [[Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942]], with retroactive effect to 3 September 1939, the start of [[World War II]]. The Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 continued to have application in individual [[States and territories of Australia|Australian states]] until the [[Australia Act 1986]] came into effect in 1986.
The [[Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947]] adopted the Statute of Westminster in New Zealand.▼
 
▲TheNew [[Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947]]Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster in New Zealand1947.
 
Newfoundland never adopted the Statute of Westminster. Instead, facing grave financial difficulties as a result of the [[Great Depression]], Newfoundland gave up [[responsible government]] in 1934. The Colonial Laws Validity Act continued to apply to Newfoundland, which was from then on ruled by an appointed Governor and [[Commission of Government]] until, in 1949, Newfoundland joined Canada as its tenth province.
 
Elsewhere, the Colonial Laws Validity Act remains in force, and helps to define the relationship between Acts of Parliament and laws passed in self-governing British territories, as well as the legality of decisions made by territorial legislatures and governments. The power to amend the Colonial Laws Validity Act rests with the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
 
==See also==
* [[Statute of Westminster 1931]]
* [[Canada Act 1982]]
* [[Australia Act 1986]]
* [[Constitution Act 1986]]
 
== External links ==
* {{UK-SLDLEG|1045491|the title=Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865}}
* [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1865/pdf/ukpga_18650063_en.pdf Official text of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865], as originally enacted, from the [[Office of Public Sector Information]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041222044039/http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r31400/jur2515/clva1865.html The text of the statute]
* [http://www.ozpolitics.info/rules/law.htm ''From Aboriginal Law to Australian Law'']
 
==Notes==
{{UK legislation}}
{{notefoot}}
 
==References==
{{Reflist}}
 
==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last = Castles |first = Alex C. | title = The Reception and Status of English Law in Australia |url = http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AdelLawRw/1963/1.html |year=1963 |volume=1|journal = The Adelaide Law Review |issue = |pages=1–31 |access-date = 9 February 2021 }}
* {{cite journal |last = Campbell |first = Enid | title = Colonial Legislation and the Laws of England |url = http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/journals/UTasLawRw/1965/3.html |year=1965 |volume=3|journal = University of Tasmania Law Review |issue = |pages=148–175 |access-date = 3 February 2021 }}
 
[[Category:1865 in law]]▼
[[Category:United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1865]]
[[Category:Constitution of Canada]]
[[Category:Constitution of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Australian constitutional law]]
▲[[Category:1865 in British law]]
[[Category:British Empire]]
[[Category:Governance of the British Empire]]
[[Category:History of the Commonwealth of Nations]]
 
[[Category:Democratization]]
[[es:Acta de Validez de Leyes Coloniales]]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Laws_Validity_Act_1865"