§ 2.25 p.m.
THE MARQUESS OF READINGMy Lords, I beg to ask a question of which I have given private notice—namely, Whether His Majesty's Government are aware that the work of Statute Law revision and of consolidation, is gravely in arrear, and whether they have any remedial measures in contemplation.
§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR (VISCOUNT JOWITT)His Majesty's Government have for some time been gravely concerned by the chaotic condition of the Statute Book and have had under consideration plans for reducing it to order. The problem is no new one, for intermittent attempts to improve the form and arrangement of the Statute Law can be traced at least to the time of Edward VI, but under modern conditions the public interest is becoming increasingly affected. It is no longer lawyers alone who are mainly concerned in ascertaining the [...]aw but a much wider section of the public, comprising central and local government administrators, representatives of employers and workers, and officers of public bodies and private associations. For all such the Statute Book has become a necessary "tool of their trade" and, is our opinion, it should be made an efficient one.
A study of the long history of previous endeavours in this field shows clearly that no real improvement can be accomplished until the business of Statute Law reform receives a definite place among the duties of Parliament and of the Executive Government of the day. This Government is determined to give it such a place. The first step will be to establish in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel a separate branch devoting its whole time to the preparation of Consolidation Bills and Codification Bills, for in the recent past the main difficulty has been the fact that Parliamentary Counsel and Departments concerned have been so much occupied with current legislation that it has been impossible for them to find the necessary time for such work. This branch will be an integral part of the office, and members of the professional staff of the office will pass in and out of it as occasion requires; but those members of the staff who are for the time being engaged in that branch will not be employed upon of other work. I am glad to say that we have been successful in securing the services of Sir Granville Ram, who is retiring from the Office of First Parliamentary Counsel, as head of the new branch, and I do not doubt that under his leadership the branch will give a good account of itself.
There is a separate body of Scottish law in no less urgent need of consolidation than the law relating to the United Kingdom, or to Great Britain, or to England 739 and Wales. The United Kingdom and Great Britain Acts which are to be consolidated will also raise questions of Scottish application. My right honourable friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Lord Advocate are arranging for the appropriate organization in the Lord Advocate's Department to enable progress to be made with the consolidation of Scottish law and the application to Scotland of Consolidation Bills relating to the United Kingdom or to Great Britain to be undertaken.
It must, however, be emphasized that the work of Statute Law reform has so fallen into arrear that continuous effort extending over ten or fifteen years will be necessary before the Statute Book can be reduced to a condition which may be regarded as satisfactory. This is not to say that no results can be expected before the expiration of that period. On the contrary, when the programme of legislation for next Session is announced I hope it will be found to comprise several Consolidation Bills dealing with a variety of subjects of importance to many sections of the community, but I am expressing a hope and am not giving any sort of promise. This, if it can be done, will be a beginning, but it is essential that after that thou work should proceed upon a carefully considered long-term plan which can only be prepared after detailed examination of the Statute Book, and must be subject to constant revision and readjustment as the work proceeds. Moreover, it will be necessary also to make short-term plans Session by Session so that the work which will fall upon Government Departments in connexion with consolidation may be fitted in with the ordinary current legislative work of the Session.
The Statute Law Committee, first appointed by Lord Cairns in 1868 "to make the necessary arrangements and to superintend the work of preparing an Edition of Statutes Revised," has of recent years made recommendations on the subject of consolidation, and the superintendence of the development of Statute Law reform should be entrusted to this body. I have, however, decided that in view of the wider interests now affected by this subject the Committee should be reconstituted, and in particular that its membership should comprise three members of each House of Parliament. The 740 membership of the reconstituted Committee will be as follows: The Chairman, myself, the Deputy Chairman, Sir Granville Ram; the Attorney General, the Lord Advocate, three Peers (including one Lord of Appeal in Ordinary), three members of the House of Commons, Counsel to the Lord Chairman of Committees, Counsel to Mr. Speaker, First Parliamentary Counsel, Legal Secretary to the Lord Advocate, Permanent Secretary, Treasury, or representative, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Home Office, or representative, Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Scottish Office, or representative, Permanent Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, Secretary of the Cabinet or representative; King's Printer of Acts of Parliament, and a solicitor.
I propose also to revise the terms of reference of the Committee, which will in future be as follows:
To consider the steps necessary to bring the Statute Book up to date by consolidation, revision and otherwise, and to superintend the publication and indexing of Statutes, Revised Statutes and Statutory Instruments.Besides asking the Committee to give their first attention to the preparation of a programme of consolidation, I propose to ask them also to consider measures for catching up the arrears which have been occasioned by war conditions in the indexing work which they superintend, and for publishing a new edition of the Revised Statutes at the earliest possible date.In conclusion, I feel I ought to utter two words of warning. First, the work of consolidation is not concerned with improvements of the substance of the law, but only of its wording and arrangement. Tasks such as the simplification of Income Tax law, which so many people desire to see put in hand, fall outside its province. Secondly, no amount of Statute Law reform will ever produce Bentham's ideal code of law readily understandable by every citizen. However well arranged it may be, the law relating, for instance, to the computation of the capital and profits of inter-connected companies for purposes of taxation will not be mastered without severe intellectual effort, and the effort required is that of a specially trained intellect. Laymen will benefit from Statute Law reform, but it will only lead to future disappointment if the setting up of the machinery now proposed gives rise to expectations that the law could be so 741 improved as never to call either for hard thinking or for expert assistance.
THE MARQUESS OF READINGMy Lords, I thank the noble and learned Viscount for his statement. Your Lordships will perhaps permit me to say one word of mixed congratulation and encouragement to him in the very considerable and very important task which he has now set afoot. No one who has any familiarity with the Statute Book—and who in these days is not either from choice or from necessity to some extent familiar with some of the outlying portions of that work?—will expect that the operations which are now to be undertaken will produce Statute Law without tears. But it is high time that this work was started and it will, I do not doubt, be of the greatest satisfaction to all those interested in the subject that Sir Granville Ram has been made available to undertake the chief part in the execution of the work.