STATUTE LAW REVISION ACT 2025

Type Act

Publication 2025-07-23

State In force

Text As published

Source Irish Statute Book

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articles 7

This is the act as published. Later amendments are not folded into the text below: each one is a separate act in this repository and an entry in this law's history.

An Act to provide for the revision of statute law by revoking, with the exception of certain instruments, every instrument made before 1 January 1861, to identify those instruments that are not being revoked by this Act, to assign citations to those instruments so as to facilitate their citation, to provide a means by which prima facie evidence of certain instruments may be given, and to provide for related matters.

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An Act to provide for the revision of statute law by revoking, with the exception of certain instruments, every instrument made before 1 January 1861, to identify those instruments that are not being revoked by this Act, to assign citations to those instruments so as to facilitate their citation, to provide a means by which prima facie evidence of certain instruments may be given, and to provide for related matters.

[23rd July, 2025]

Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:

1. Interpretation

In this Act—

“Act of 2005” means the Interpretation Act 2005; “instrument” means—

(a) an order, regulation, rule, bye-law, scheme or proclamation,

(b) any similar instrument (including a warrant, licence, certificate, direction, notice or guideline) of a regulatory, general or public nature, howsoever described, other than a charter or letters patent, or

which was made in exercise of a power conferred by or under a statute, instrument, charter, administrative authority or executive authority including a prerogative power, or which was published in, or notice of the making of which was published in, the Dublin Gazette or the London Gazette;

“made” includes issued, granted or otherwise created;

“Minister” means the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation;

“statute” includes, where the context allows, a royal ordinance, charter or similar document that—

(a) is of a public and general nature, and

(b) by virtue of its antiquity and having been granted or otherwise made before or during the development of the parliamentary system, is judicially noticed as having the force and effect of an Act of Parliament.

2. General statute law revision, revocation and saver

(1) Subject to subsection (2), all instruments—

(a) made before 1 January 1821 that were retained in force in accordance with section 2 of the Statute Law Revision Act 2015, and

(b) made on or after 1 January 1821 and before 1 January 1861,

that are in force in the State immediately before the passing of this Act are revoked.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to—

(a) the instruments specified in Schedule 1, or

(b) any saving, or any transitional or continuing matter, provided for or in respect of an instrument revoked by or under—

(i) any instrument made, or

(ii) any statute passed,

before the passing of this Act.

(3) Subsection (2)(b) is without prejudice to section 27 of the Act of 2005 and section 5.

(4) The inclusion of a reference to an instrument in Schedule 1 shall not confer any statutory effect on the instrument or restrict the exercise of any power to amend or revoke that instrument.

(5) An instrument specified in column (3) of Schedule 1, opposite a reference number specified in column (1) of that Schedule, may be revoked by an order made by the Minister of the Government specified in column (5) of that Schedule opposite that reference number.

(6) Subsection (5) is without prejudice to any other power of revocation, including section 22(3) of the Act of 2005.

(7) An order under subsection (5) shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if either such House, within the next 21 days on which the House sits after the order is laid before it, passes a resolution annulling the order, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under it.

3. Specific revocations

(1) For ease of reference, there is set out in Schedule 2 a list of instruments referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 2(1) which—

(a) were not wholly revoked before the passing of this Act, and

(b) are not saved by virtue of section 2(2)(a),

and for the purposes of this subsection “wholly revoked” includes an instrument to which section 2(2)(b) relates.

(2) The fact that an instrument, other than an instrument to which section 2(2)(a) relates, is not referred to in Schedule 2 shall not be read as saving or continuing such instrument for any purpose other than as provided for by or referred to in section 2(2)(b).

(3) The inclusion of a reference to an instrument in Schedule 2 shall not be taken as evidence that the instrument, or any provision of it, was of full force and effect immediately before the passing of this Act.

4. Assignment of citations

In respect of each instrument specified in column (3) in Part 2 of Schedule 1, each such instrument may be cited by the citation assigned to it in column (4) of the said Part 2 opposite the mention of that instrument in column (3).

5. Savings

(1) This Act does not affect any existing principle or rule of law or equity or any established jurisdiction, form or course of pleading, practice or procedure or any existing trust, notwithstanding that it may have been in any manner derived from, affirmed or recognised by any instrument revoked by this Act.

(2) Where any instrument not revoked by this Act, or statute, has been commenced, applied, confirmed, revived or perpetuated by a revoked instrument, such commencement, application, confirmation, revival or perpetuation is not affected by the revocation.

6. Evidence of certain instruments and designation of specified institution

(1) In addition to the provisions of the Evidence Act 1845, the Documentary Evidence Act 1868 and the Documentary Evidence Act 1882 (in so far as they relate to the publications set out in paragraph (a)), prima facie evidence of an instrument made before 1 January 1861 (including, if required, an instrument revoked by section 2) may be given in all courts and in all legal proceedings—

(a) by producing a copy of the instrument as published in one of the following publications:

(i) the Dublin Gazette (in Schedules 1 and 2 referred to as “D.G.”);

(ii) the London Gazette (in Schedules 1 and 2 referred to as “L.G.”);

(iii) “A Bibliography of Proclamations 1485-1910”, Volume IV, edited by Robert Steele and published in 1913 (in Schedule 2 referred to as “Steele Vol. 4”),

(b) by producing a copy taken from the copy of the instrument as published in any publication referred to in paragraph (a), where the copy so taken is certified by an official of a specified institution to be a true and accurate copy of the instrument as it appears in the publication concerned; and any document purporting to be a copy so taken (however expressed) shall be received in evidence without proof of the official position or handwriting of the person signing the certificate, or of his or her authority to do so.

(2)
(a) In subsection (1)(b) “specified institution” means the National Library of Ireland, or such other library or archive as may be designated in writing by the Minister under paragraph (b).

(b) The Minister may designate a library or archive for the purposes of this section and, except where otherwise provided for by the designation, the designation shall be deemed to be made in respect of all of the publications referred to in subsection (1)(a).

(d) Notice of the making of a designation or a revocation under this subsection shall be published in Iris Oifigiúil as soon as practicable after it has been made.

(3) A specified institution may impose a charge or charges for the purpose of covering the costs incurred by it in providing, under this section, a copy of an instrument, including costs relating to retrieving and copying from the publication concerned and checking and certifying the copy of the instrument.

7. Short title and collective citations

(1) This Act may be cited as the Statute Law Revision Act 2025.

(2) The Short Titles Acts 1896 to 2015, section 4 and, in so far as it relates to section 4, Schedule 1 may be cited together as the Short Titles Acts 1896 to 2025.

(3) The Statute Law Revision Acts 1861 to 2016 and this Act may be cited together as the Statute Law Revision Acts 1861 to 2025.

SCHEDULE 1 Instruments Retained in Force

PART 1 Irish Instruments 1169 to 1800


Reference Number	Date or Date and Citation	Subject matter	Citation assigned by the Statute Law Revision Act 2015	Minister of the Government responsible
1.	October 25, 1705 [P.O.I. Vol. 2 p. 582]	Declaration announcing that the Dublin Gazette is published by authority	Dublin Gazette Order 1705	Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation
2.	July 27, 1782	Commission regarding Bank of Ireland	Bank of Ireland Order 1782	Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment

PART 2 Instruments of the British Government in Ireland 1821 to 1860


Reference Number	Date and Citation	Subject matter	New citation assigned by this Act	Minister of the Government responsible
3.	August 23, 1841 [D.G., Issue No. 13283, p.630]	Notice fixing the limits of a portion of the River Shannon over which the Shannon Commissioners may exercise powers under the Shannon Navigation Act [1839 (2 & 3 Vict.) c.61]	Limits of the River Shannon Order (No. 1) 1841	Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
4.	November 13, 1841 [D.G., Issue No. 13308, p.860	Notice fixing the limits of a portion of the River Shannon over which the Shannon Commissioners may exercise powers under the Shannon Navigation Act [1839 (2 & 3 Vict.) c.61]	Limits of the River Shannon Order (No. 2) 1841	Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

SCHEDULE 2 Instruments Revoked

PART 1 Irish Instruments 1169 to 1800


Reference Number	Date and Citation	Subject matter
1.	August 26, 1677 [P.O.I., Vol. 1 p. 379]	Form of Warrants Order 1677
2.	November 14, 1780 [D.G., Issue No. 3902]	Forward Name and Arms Order 1780
3.	May 3, 1781 [D.G., Issue No. 3980]	Conyngham Name and Arms Order 1781
4.	May 3, 1781 [D.G., Issue No. 3980]	Conyngham Name and Arms (No. 2) Order 1781
5.	August 1, 1795 [D.G., Issue No. 6209]	Dalway Name and Arms Order 1795
6.	February 6, 1685 [P.O.I. Vol. 1 p. 453]	Proclamation authorising Ulster King of Arms to prevent improper use of arms, style of esquire or gentleman, etc.

PART 2 Instruments of England 1066 to 1707


Reference Number	Date and Citation	Subject matter
7.	March 8, 1624 [Steele, Vol. 1, p. 162]	Protection of Foreign Diplomats Order 1624

PART 3 Instruments of Great Britain 1707 to 1800


Reference Number	Date and Citation	Subject matter
8.	April 15, 1775 [L.G., Issue No. 11552]	Meredyth Name and Arms Order 1775
9.	December 23, 1780 [L.G., Issue No. 12146]	Lynch Name and Arms Order 1780
10.	September 19, 1789 [L.G., Issue No. 13132]	Leigh Name and Arms Order 1789
11.	December 13, 1798 [D.G., Issue No. 6738]	Palliser Name and Arms Order 1798

PART 4 Instruments of the British Government in Ireland 1801 to 1860

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