HL Deb 10 December 1964 vol 262 cc246-53

4.7 p.m.

Report stage resumed.

Schedule 2 [Obsolete, &c, enactments ceasing to have effect]:

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, your Lordships may remember that Schedule 2 is the Schedule which sets out a good deal of legislative dead-wood, which one is naturally anxious to clear away, in Acts all of which have some relation to the administration of justice. The object of all the remaining Amendments is to add to this number other examples, putting them in the Schedule in their proper chronological order. Your Lordships will observe that Amendment No. 9 relates to four different Acts, the first of which is the Administration of Justice Act, 1705. The point here is that there is only one section of that Act which is still in force—namely, Section 4. Section 4 provides that the Act is to apply to the Palatine and other courts of record, but, as there are no other parts of the Act still in force except Section 4, it obviously has no application and clearly should have been repealed a long time ago.

The second Act is the Sale of Spirits Act, 1750. That Act prohibits the bringing of any action for the price of spirituous liquors sold, unless the amount is at least £1. The Act also prohibits the taking of security for the price of such liquors by the retailer from the purchaser. The Act of 1750 was repealed by the Sale of Spirits Act, 1862, in so far as it applied to the sale of liquor for consumption off the premises and delivered to the purchaser's residence in quantities of not less than a reputed quart. It therefore affects only sales for consumption on the premises. These provisions are now obsolete, and not only is the figure of £1 obviously hopelessly out of date—I think it relates to the period of "drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence"—but the object of the provision, which is the discouragement of "chalking-up" drinks sold for immediate consumption, is effectively achieved by Section 132 of the Licensing Act, 1953, which makes it a criminal offence to sell on credit intoxicating liquor for consumption on licensed premises or to consume liquor so sold. So the price could not be sued for, because it would in any case be an illegal transaction. Then, there seems no reason why, regardless of the amount involved, spirits should not be sold on credit for consumption off the premises.

The third Act is the Disorderly Houses Act, 1751, Sections 5 to 7. This Act provided for a special mode of initiating criminal proceedings against brothel keepers. It enabled any two inhabitants of a parish to give notice in writing to the constable of the existence of a brothel, and required the constable and the informants to enter into recognisances before a justice of the peace to prosecute the brothel-keeper. The Disorderly Houses Act, 1818, made provision for the local overseers of the poor to be given notice of these proceedings, and empowered them to take over the prosecution. But in fact, these procedures are now all obsolete, proceedings now lying under the Sexual Offences Act, 1956, which consolidated the law in this field; but by some error these sections were not then repealed.

Then your Lordships will see that there are two Acts, both of which it is proposed should become non-effective, which dealt with a part of the garden of Lincoln's Inn. The first Act, the Act of 15 George III, Chapter 22, vested in the Accountant General of the Court of Chancery part of Lincoln's Inn garden. An Act of the previous year had authorised the use of certain dormant funds in court for the purpose of rebuilding the offices of the six clerks and the Accountant General, and a convenient site for the latter was purchased from Lincoln's Inn and vested in the Accountant General under this Statute. The Act of 15 George IN, Chapter 56, made fresh provision for the offices of the six clerks, including the acquisition of the site for their new office in the garden of Lincoln's Inn, and the Act accordingly vested the appropriate land in them.

Then, in 1842, the office of the six clerks was abolished, and the office of the Accountant General is now in the Supreme Court Pay Office, and is situated in the Law Courts. Lincoln's Inn was authorised to re-acquire the land under Section 23 of the Courts of Justice Building Act, 1865, which was the Act which provided for the erection of the present Courts of Justice, and in fact did so. Accordingly, all this legislation is now spent, and I beg to move accordingly.

Amendment moved— Page 35, line 32, at end insert—

("4 & 5 Anne c. 3. The Administration of Justice Act 1705. The whole Act.
24 Geo. 2. c. 40. The Sale of Spirits Act 1750. The whole Act.
25 Geo. 2. c. 36. The Disorderly Houses Act 1751. Sections 5 to 7.
15 Geo. 3. c. 22. An Act for vesting part of the garden of the society of Lincoln's Inn, in the county of Middlesex, in the accountant general of the court of chancery, and his successors, for ever, for the purpose of erecting thereon offices for the accountant general, and for the register of the said court. The whole Act.

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, this Amendment relates to the whole of the Disorderly Houses Act, 1818, and, for the reasons which I gave your Lordships when moving the last Amendment, this Act is now obsolete. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 35, line 35, at end insert—

("58 Geo. 3. c. 70. The Disorderly Houses Act 1818. The whole Act.")
—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, this Amendment relates, as your Lordships will see, to the Fines and Recoveries Act, 1842. This was an Act which was passed in consequence of the abolition of Courts of Great Session in Wales and the Palatine Court of Chester. The Act gave formal validity to fines and recoveries levied or suffered in those courts, notwithstanding that the prothonotaries and other court officials had not recorded them with the proper formalities. The Act also made provision for the enrolment of such fines and recoveries in the records of the Court of Common Pleas. This Act is now spent. Fines and recoveries had already been abolished by the Fines and Recoveries Act, 1833, but those levied or suffered before then continued to be relevant in conveyancing for some time. There is, however, no practical possibility of the Act of 1842 now being effectively relied upon for the purpose of establishing an old title to land. I beg to move accordingly.

Amendment moved— Page 35, line 44, at end insert—

("5 & 6 Vict. c. 32. The Fines and Recoveries Act 1842. The whole Act.")
—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, this Amendment concerns two Acts, the Sale of Spirits Act, 1862, and the Courts of Justice Building Act, 1865. The Act of 1862 restricts the application of the Sale of Spirits Act, 1750, which is itself repealed by the Amendment which your Lordships have already passed. Section 23 of the Act of 1865—that is, the Courts of Justice Building Act—authorised Lincoln's Inn, when the present Law Courts were built, to reacquire the land which had been bought for the Inn for the purposes of erecting the offices and buildings. It is one of the last of the series of Acts referred to on the previous Amendment, and is accordingly spent. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 37, line 23, at end insert—

("25 & 26 Vict. c. 38. The Sale of Spirits Act 1862. The whole Act.
28 & 29 Vict. c. 48. The Courts of Justice Building Act 1865. Section 23.")
—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question. Amendment agreed to.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, as your Lordships will see, this concerns the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1879. It repeals the words in Section 9 which extend the definition of the Attorney General to include the Solicitor General—and I quote— whenever such Solicitor General can by reason of a vacancy in the office of Attorney General or otherwise act as the Attorney General. These words are no longer necessary, because Section 1 (1) of the Law Officers Act, 1944, gives a general power to the Solicitor General to discharge the functions of the Attorney General if the office of Attorney General is vacant, if the Attorney General is unable to act owing to absence or illness, or if he authorises the Solicitor General to act for him in a particular case. As that general provision has been made for the Solicitor General to act on behalf of the Attorney General, it is no longer necessary to have this more limited power in Section 9 of the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1879, and I beg to move accordingly.

Amendment moved— Page 37, line 33, at end insert—

("42 & 43 Vict. c. 22. The Prosecution of Offences Act 1879. In section 9, the words from 'and Her Majesty's Solicitor General' onwards.")
—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question. Amendment agreed to.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, this Amendment repeals the whole of the Middlesex Registry Act, 1891, and Section 4 of the Land Registry (Middlesex Deeds) Act, 1891. The latter Act transferred the Middlesex Registry of Deeds to the Land Registry, and Section 4 made provision for the transfer, precedence, pensions and superannuation allowances of the staff of the Middlesex Registry. The former Act made temporary provision for the discharge by the Land Registry of the Middlesex Registry's functions pending the transfer. These provisions are now spent. So the former Act was purely transitional; and, as to the latter, the pensions and so forth of those who occupied those offices in 1891 no longer apply to anyone. I beg to move accordingly.

Amendment moved— Page 37, line 35, at end insert—

("54 & 55 Vict. c. 10. The Middlesex Registry Act 1891. The whole Act.
54 & 55 Vict. c. 64. The Land Registry (Middlesex Deeds) Act 1891. Section 4.")
—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question. Amendment agreed to.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, it may seem surprising that there is so much legislative dead wood about. Of course, the Statute Law Revision Committee are doing very fine work in this field, but it is extraordinary what a lot of dead wood remains. I hope the House will think that at the expenditure of a fairly short amount of time it is worth while clearing them off the Statute Book if we can. This Amendment relates to some words in one section of the Land Registration Act, 1925. The Amendment repeals a reference in Section 137 of the Land Registration Act, 1925, to the Mortgage Debenture Act, 1865. But the Act of 1865 was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act, 1958, and the reference is therefore obsolete. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 38, line 7, at end insert—

("15 & 16 Geo. 5. c. 21. The Land Regisstration Act 1925. In section 137 (3). the words 'and of the Mortgage Debenture Act 1865'.")
—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, this Amendment relates to Section 199 of the County Courts Act, 1959. That is a section which prohibits the bringing in any county court or any other court of any action to recover the price of any "ale, porter, beer, cider or perry" which was consumed on the premises where it was sold. The Act of 1959 was a Consolidation Act and this provision dates from the County Courts Amendment Act, 1867. For the reasons which I ventured to give when moving an earlier Amendment with reference to the Sale of Spirits Act, 1750, any action such as is prohibited by Section 199 would in any case be fruitless by reason of the prohibition imposed by Section 132 of the Licensing Act, 1953. Section 199 is therefore now unnecessary. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 38, line 42, at end insert—

("7 & 8 Eliz. 2. c. 22. The County Courts Act 1959. Section 199.")
—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, this is a reference to certain words in Section 8 of the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1879, and the Amendment is consequential upon the new clause amending this section with reference, as noble Lords will remember, to the regulations to be made by the Attorney General in respect of the duties of the Director of Public Prosecutions. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— Page 39, line 3, at end insert—

("42 & 43 Vict. c. 22. The Prosecution of Offences Act 1879. In section 8, the words from 'The draft' onwards.")
—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR

My Lords, the Title has, of course, to be wide enough to cover the whole of the contents of the Bill, and the additional reference in the Amendment to this Bill makes it necessary to alter the Title accordingly. I beg to move.

Amendment moved— In the Title, line 13, after ("Wales") insert ("to amend section 8 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1879.")—(The Lord Chancellor.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.