Law Revision
(Jersey) Law 2003
A LAW to establish a Law Revision Board and to provide
for the preparation, bringing into force and maintenance of a complete revised
edition of the laws of Jersey and for connected purposes
Commencement [see endnotes]
Preliminary
1 Interpretation[2]
In this Law –
“Board” means
the Law Revision Board established under Article 2;
“current law
drafting practice” means the law drafting practice for the time being in
use in the office of the Law Draftsman and includes such practice in relation
to the layout and appearance of text;
“effective date”,
in relation to a revised edition, means the date that the edition is brought
into force under Article 7;
“EU instrument”
has the same meaning as in the European Union (Jersey)
Law 1973;
“laws passed or made
in Jersey” means –
(a) all
Laws passed by the States; and
(b) all
regulations, orders, rules, bye-laws, schemes or other instruments passed or
made in Jersey under the authority of any Order in Council or under a Law
passed by the States;
“page”, in
relation to a revised edition in the format of a CD-ROM or other means of
electronic storage or a databank accessible by remote computer, includes any
separate item of text;
“revised edition”
means a complete revised edition of the laws of Jersey or an update of such an
edition;
“revision date”,
in relation to a revised edition, is the date up until which that edition is
current.
2 Establishment
and functions of Law Revision Board
(1) There
shall be a Law Revision Board which shall consist of –
(a) 2
members of the States, appointed by the States;
(b) the
Attorney General;
(c) the
Greffier of the States;
(d) the
Law Draftsman; and
(e) the
Law Revision Manager appointed under paragraph (2), if any.
(2) The
persons mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) to (d) may appoint a Law Revision
Manager to assist in the discharge of the Board’s functions under this
Law.
(3) The
Board, in accordance with this Law, shall prepare and bring into force a
complete revised edition and may maintain the edition by preparing and bringing
into force updates.
(4) The
Board, in the discharge of its duties and exercise of its powers under this
Law, shall act unanimously.
Preparation of revised
edition
3 Contents
of revised edition
(1) A
complete revised edition shall contain –
(a) all
laws passed or made in Jersey that are in force on the revision date and that
are not omitted under Article 4 or 5;
(b) such
laws of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and Orders in Council which apply
to Jersey and which the Board considers it desirable to include;
(c) such
treaties, conventions and EU instruments relevant to Jersey which the Board
considers it desirable to include;
(d) an
index of its contents; and
(e) such
introductory and explanatory material and such tables as the Board considers it
desirable to include.[3]
(2) Where
a revised edition contains an Order in Council extending or applying an Act of
the Parliament of the United Kingdom to Jersey or contains a law passed or made
in Jersey applying a treaty, convention or EU instrument to Jersey whether, in
either case, with or without modifications, the Act, treaty, convention or EU
instrument may be reproduced in the revised edition with any such
modifications, which shall be clearly indicated by the use of brackets and
notes or similar means.[4]
4 Laws
to be omitted from revised edition
(1) The
Board shall omit from a revised edition the laws specified in Schedule 1.
(2) A
revised edition shall indicate any law omitted pursuant to this Article.
5 Revision
powers of Board
(1) Subject
to paragraphs (2) and (3), in the preparation of a revised edition, the
Board shall have the powers of revision described in Schedule 2.
(2) Nothing
may be done under this Article that would alter the effect of any law.
(3) Any
revision shall be consistent with current law drafting practice.
(4) The
States may by Regulations amend Schedule 2.
6 Format
and marking of revised edition
(1) A
revised edition may be contained in such of the following formats as the Board
thinks fit –
(a) bound
books;
(b) a
collection of booklets;
(c) loose-leaf
books;
(d) CD-ROM
or other means of electronic storage;
(e) a
databank accessible by remote computer.
(2) The
revision date of a revised edition shall be –
(a) marked
upon every page of a revised edition in printed format; and
(b) displayed
upon every page of a revised edition in any other format, in such manner that
it is also marked upon a printed copy of that page.
(3) Different
revision dates may be marked or displayed upon different pages of a revised
edition.
Bringing revised edition
into force
7 Bringing
revised edition into force
(1) The
Board may bring a revised edition into force by –
(a) signing
one copy of a revised edition prepared in accordance with this Law, in one of
the formats mentioned in Article 6(1), as the authoritative version of the
law on the revision date; and
(b) publishing
a notice in the Jersey Gazette –
(i) bringing that
edition, in that format or those formats, into force on a date specified in the
notice, and
(ii) where
the format is a databank accessible by remote computer, specifying the manner
in which it may be accessed.[5]
(2) Where
a revised edition is brought into force in the format of a CD-ROM or other
means of electronic storage or a databank accessible by remote computer, the
Board may, as an alternative to signing the copy electronically, sign a
printout from it of the revised edition.[6]
8 Publication
and distribution of revised edition
(1) When
a revised edition is brought into force under Article 7, the Board shall
deliver one copy each, in each format in which the edition is brought into
force, to –
(a) the
Lieutenant Governor;
(b) the
Bailiff;
(c) the
Greffier of the States; and
(d) the
Judicial Greffier.
(2) The
Greffier of the States shall –
(a) offer
for sale copies of a revised edition brought into force in the format of
booklets, bound books, loose-leaf books, pages or CD-ROM or other means of
electronic storage; and
(b) make
a revised edition brought into force in the format of a databank accessible to
remote computers upon such terms as the Greffier may determine.
(3) The
Greffier of the States may offer for sale or make accessible to remote
computers, on such terms as the Greffier may determine, copies of a revised
edition in a format other than the format in which it is brought into force.
(4) Without
prejudice to paragraphs (2) and (3), the Greffier of the States may enter
into any agreement for the sale of copies of a revised edition by any publisher
or bookseller and for the inclusion of a revised edition in a databank or
publication, whether in Jersey or elsewhere, as may appear to be expedient.
9 Status
and effect of revised edition
(1) From
the effective date, a revised edition prepared in accordance with this Law, in
a format in which it is brought into force under Article 7, shall be
deemed to be, in all courts of justice and for all purposes whatsoever, the
sole authentic edition of the laws of Jersey, in respect of the law contained
in it and in force on the revision date.
(2) Paragraph (1)
shall not affect the operation of any law which comes into force after the
revision date and which repeals, alters or amends any law included in the
revised edition.
(3) A
reference in any law to another law amended or otherwise affected by the
operation of this Law shall be construed, where necessary and practicable, as a
reference to the revised version of the other law contained in the revised
edition.
(4) A
reference in any document to a law amended or otherwise affected by the
operation of this Law shall be construed, unless the contrary intention
appears, as a reference to the revised version of the law contained in the
revised edition.
(5) The
inclusion of any principal legislation or subordinate legislation in a revised
edition shall not alter or in any other way affect the operation of the Human Rights (Jersey)
Law 2000 in relation to that legislation.
(6) In
paragraph (5), “principal legislation” and “subordinate
legislation” have the same meaning as in the Human Rights (Jersey)
Law 2000.
(7) The
omission, by virtue of Article 4 or paragraph 1 of Schedule 2, of a
law from a revised edition brought into force under Article 7 shall not
affect the operation of that law, which shall remain in force until it has been
repealed or has expired, become spent or had effect, as the case may be, and
may be proved by the production of any copy of it by which it could have been
proved before the revised edition is brought into force.
(8) Paragraph (1)
shall not apply to a copy of a revised edition brought into force under Article 7
where the copy is in a format other than a format in which the edition was
brought into force.
Maintenance of revised
edition
10 Updating
of revised edition
(1) A
revised edition brought into force under Article 7 may be updated as
provided in this Article so as to add or incorporate any law or the effect of
any law referred to in Article 3(1) which comes into force after the
revision date.
(2) A
revised edition in the form of a bound booklet, bound book, CD-ROM or other
means of electronic storage, may be updated by its entire replacement.
(3) A
revised edition in loose-leaf format may be updated by the replacement of pages
or the insertion or deletion of pages.
(4) A
revised edition in the form of a databank that is accessible by remote computer
may be updated by the amendment of part or the whole of that databank and the
consequent replacement of the current version of the databank.
(5) A
replacement, insertion, deletion or amendment pursuant to this Article shall
have no effect unless it is brought into force under Article 7.
(6) A
replacement, insertion, deletion or amendment pursuant to this Article which is
brought into force under Article 7 shall have the status and effect
described in Article 9.
11 Correction
of minor errors and omissions
(1) If
any clerical or printing error in or omission from a revised edition brought
into force under Article 7 is found, the Board –
(a) may
correct the same in such manner as may be consistent with the powers of
revision conferred on it by Article 5; and
(b) shall
give notice in the Jersey Gazette of any corrections so made.
(2) No
error in or omission from a revised edition brought into force under Article 7
shall affect the validity or lawfulness of any act or omission by any person
which would otherwise have been valid or lawful.
Miscellaneous and closing
12 Keeping
of laws passed or made in Jersey
The Greffier of the
States shall –
(a) keep
a copy of every enactment required to be printed under Article 3 of the Official Publications (Jersey)
Law 1960 after this Law comes into force –
(i) on
CD-ROM or in any other form of electronic storage, or
(ii) on a
databank; and
(b) make
every such copy available to the Board by, according to the format of the copy,
providing a copy of it on CD-ROM or in any other form of electronic storage or
making the databank on which it is kept accessible to the Board.
13 Offence
(1) A
person who knowingly makes any alteration to a revised edition, with the intent
to deceive any person as to the true text of the law, shall be guilty of an
offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of 14 years and a fine.
(2) Paragraph (1)
applies whether the alteration is made in Jersey or elsewhere.
14 Citation
This Law may be cited as
the Law Revision (Jersey) Law 2003.
SCHEDULE
1
(Article 4)
OMITTED LAWS
The following laws shall
be omitted from a revised edition –
(a) private
Laws;
(b) Laws
conferring pensions or gratuities on individual persons;
(c) Laws
of a temporary nature or under revision;
(d) Laws
the carrying into effect of whose provisions is doubtful;
(e) Laws
according acts of incorporation or converting trusts to public trusts;
(f) subordinate
legislation made under a Law omitted under paragraph (a) to (e);
(g) subordinate
legislation of temporary effect or which does not appear to the Board to be of
sufficient importance to be included;
(h) Schemes
or Representations ratified by the Crown on the recommendation of the Church
Commissioners for England or, formerly, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for
England;
(i) enactments
omitted from an earlier republication of a volume of the Recueil des Lois de
Jersey or of the Regulations and Orders of Jersey.
SCHEDULE 2
(Article 5(1))
POWERS OF REVISION
1. In
the preparation of a revised edition, the Board shall have power to
omit –
(a) any law passed or made in Jersey or any part
of such a law which has been expressly and specifically repealed or which has
expired or has become spent or has had its effect;
(b) any
repealing provision contained in a law passed or made in Jersey and also any table
or list of repealed laws;
(c) the
preamble to any law passed or made in Jersey where such omissions can, in the
opinion of the Board, conveniently be made;
(d) any
law passed or made in Jersey or any provision of a such a law bringing a law or
provision of a law into operation where, in the opinion of the Board, such
omission can conveniently be made;
(e) any
amending law passed or made in Jersey or any provision of such a law, where the
amendments effected by it have been embodied by the Board in the law to which
they relate;
(f) any
words of enactment.
2. In
the preparation of a revised edition, the Board shall have power, in respect of
any law referred to in Article 3(1), to –
(a) arrange
the laws in such order or manner and in such groups as the Board may determine;
(b) add a
short title to a law which does not have one, alter the long or short title of
any law or alter the title of any law;
(c) consolidate
or split laws or move a provision from one law to another such law in which the
provision more properly belongs;
(d) rearrange
the provisions of any law or any list in a provision of a law;
(e) add a
table of contents or destinations to a law;
(f) add
a heading to a provision of a law that does not have one and alter any heading
to a provision or part of a law;
(g) omit
any map, picture, drawing, diagram or other object;
(h) change
any reference to a person, office, body, place or thing to reflect a change of
name, transfer of function or provision for construction of the reference;
(i) make
such adaptations and amendments as may appear necessary or proper as a
consequence of constitutional or other changes in Jersey or any other place or
territory or in or to any body or organization outside Jersey;
(j) change
any words to make them gender neutral;
(k) change
any reference to an office established by law to make it gender neutral;
(l) correct
any typographical error or other error of spelling, punctuation, grammar or
layout;
(m) change
spelling, punctuation and layout;
(n) change
expressions of date, money, number, time and units of measurement;
(o) change
conjunctives and disjunctives at the end of a provision of a law;
(p) omit
any obsolete or redundant words;
(q) alter
any words to secure uniformity of expression in a law;
(r) shorten
or simplify any phrase or sentence;
(s) add
numbering where there is none and change numbering to correct an error or
reflect any other change made under this Article;
(t) substitute
for a reference to a law or provision of a law which has been re-enacted or
replaced, whether with or without modifications, a reference to the law or
provision re-enacting or replacing it;
(u) change
a cross reference to a law or provision of a law to correct an error or reflect
any other change made under this Article,
and to do all other things
which appear to the Board to be necessary to render the revised edition
consistent with current law drafting practice and to perfect the revised
edition.