Statutes Repeal Act (S.C. 2008, c. 20)
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Assented to 2008-06-18
Statutes Repeal Act
S.C. 2008, c. 20
Assented to 2008-06-18
An Act to repeal legislation that has not come into force within ten years of receiving royal assent
SUMMARY
This enactment provides that any Act or provision of an Act that is to come into force on a date to be fixed by proclamation or order of the Governor in Council must be included in an annual report laid before both Houses of Parliament if it does not come into force by the December 31 that is nine years after royal assent. The Act or provision is repealed if it does not come into force by the following December 31, unless during that year either House resolves that it not be repealed.
The enactment applies to all Acts — whether introduced in either House as Government bills, private members’ public bills or private bills — that provide for a coming-into-force date to be set by the Governor in Council. It does not apply to Acts or provisions that are to come into force on assent or on a fixed date provided by the Act.
The enactment includes a transitional provision for provisions that were amended during the nine-year period before the enactment comes into force.
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
Marginal note:Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Statutes Repeal Act.
Marginal note:Annual report of legislation not in force
2. In every calendar year, the Minister of Justice shall cause to be laid before the Senate and the House of Commons, on any of the first five days on which that House sits, a report listing every Act of Parliament or provision of an Act of Parliament that is to come into force on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation or order of the Governor in Council and that
(a) was assented to nine years or more before the December 31 immediately preceding the laying of the report; and
(b) had not come into force on or before that December 31.
Marginal note:Repeal on December 31 following
3. Every Act or provision listed in the annual report is repealed on December 31 of the year in which the report is laid unless it comes into force on or before that December 31 or during that year either House of Parliament adopts a resolution that the Act or provision not be repealed.
Marginal note:Publication in Canada Gazette
4. The Minister of Justice shall publish each year in the Canada Gazette a list of every Act or provision repealed on the preceding December 31 under this Act.
Marginal note:Transitional
5. Section 2 does not apply to any provision amended by an Act that was assented to during the nine calendar years preceding the year this Act comes into force, or to any provision that is necessary for the amended provision to have effect, until the calendar year following the ninth anniversary of that assent.
Marginal note:Coming into force
6. This Act comes into force two years after the day on which it receives royal assent.
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