Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title = Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865
| type = Act
| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title = An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of Colonial Laws.
|statute_book_chapter=28 & 29 Vict. c. 63
| year = 1865
|introduced_by=
|statute_book_chapter citation = [[28 & 29 Vict.]] c. 63
|territorial_extent=
| introduced_commons =
|royal_assent=29 June 1865
| introduced_lords =
|commencement=
| territorial_extent =
|repeal_date=
| royal_assent = 29 June 1865
|amendments=
| commencement =
|related_legislation=
| expiry_date =
|repealing_legislation=
| repeal_date =
|status=Amended
| amends =
|original_text=
| replaces =
|legislation_history=
| amendments = {{ubli|indent=1em|[[Statute Law Revision Act 1893]]|[[Statute of Westminster 1931]]|[[Burma Independence Act 1947]]|[[Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1976]]|[[Belize Act 1981]]|[[Australia Act 1986]]|[[Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989]]}}
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation =
| status = Amended
| legislation_history =
| theyworkforyou =
| millbankhansard =
| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/28-29/63/enacted
| revised_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/28-29/63
| use_new_UK-LEG = no
}}
The '''Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865''' (28 & 29 Vict. c. 63) is an [[Act of Parliament|Act]] of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]. Its [[long title]] is "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of Colonial Laws".
 
The '''Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865'''{{notetag|The citation of this Act by this [[short title]] was authorised by the [[Short Titles Act 1896]], section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the [[Interpretation Act 1978]].}} ([[28 & 29 Vict.]] c. 63) is an [[Act of Parliament|Act]] of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]]. Its [[long title]] is "An Act to remove Doubts as to the Validity of Colonial Laws".
The purpose of the Act was to remove any apparent inconsistency between local (colonial) and British ("imperial") legislation. Thus it confirmed that colonial legislation (provided it had been passed in the proper manner) was to have full effect within the colony, limited only to the extent that it was not in contradiction with ("repugnant to") any Act of Parliament that contained powers which extended beyond the boundaries of the [[United Kingdom]] to include that colony. This had the effect of clarifying and strengthening the position of colonial legislatures, while at the same time restating their ultimate subordination to the [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]] Parliament.
 
The purpose of the Act was to remove any apparent inconsistency between local (colonial) and British ("imperial") legislation. Thus it confirmed that colonial legislation (provided it had been passed in the proper manner) was to have full effect within the colony, limited only to the extent that it was not in contradiction with ("repugnant to") any Act of Parliament that contained powers which extended beyond the boundaries of the [[United Kingdom]] to include that colony. This had the effect of clarifying and strengthening the position of colonial legislatures, while at the same time restating their ultimate subordination to the [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]] Parliament.
Until the passage of the Act, a number of colonial statutes had been struck down by local judges on the grounds of repugnancy to [[English law]]s, whether or not those English laws had been intended by Parliament to be effective in the colony. This had been a particular problem for the [[Government of South Australia|government]] in [[South Australia]], where [[Benjamin Boothby|Justice Benjamin Boothby]] had struck down local statutes on numerous occasions in the colony's [[Supreme Court of South Australia|Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Roberts-Wray |first=Sir Kenneth |title=Commonwealth and Colonial Law |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Commonwealth_and_Colonial_Law.html?id=2WOuAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y |location= |publisher= Stevens & Sons| date=1966 |page=396 |isbn=9780420395801 |jstor=1094286 }}</ref>
 
Until the passage of the Act, a number of colonial statutes had been struck down by local judges on the grounds of repugnancy to [[English law]]s, whether or not those English laws had been intended by Parliament to be effective in the colony. This had been a particular problem for the [[Government of South Australia|government]] in [[South Australia]], where [[Benjamin Boothby|Justice Benjamin Boothby]] had struck down local statutes on numerous occasions in the colony's [[Supreme Court of South Australia|the colony's Supreme Court]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Roberts-Wray |first=Sir Kenneth |title=Commonwealth and Colonial Law |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Commonwealth_and_Colonial_Law.html?id=2WOuAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y |location= |publisher= Stevens & Sons| date=1966 |page=396 |isbn=9780420395801 |jstor=1094286 }}</ref>
 
By the mid-1920s, the [[British government]] accepted that the [[British Dominions|dominions]] should have full legislative autonomy. Accordingly, the imperial Parliament passed the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]], which repealed the application of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 to the dominions (i.e., [[Australia]], [[Canada]], the [[Irish Free State]], [[New Zealand]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]], and the [[Union of South Africa]]).
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New Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster in 1947.
 
Newfoundland never adopted the Statute of Westminster. Instead, facing grave financial difficulties as a result of the [[Great Depression]], Newfoundland gave up [[responsible government]] in 1934. The Colonial Laws Validity Act continued to apply to Newfoundland, which was from then on ruled by an appointed Governor and [[Commission of Government]] until, in 1949, Newfoundland joined Canada as its 10thtenth province.
 
Elsewhere, the Colonial Laws Validity Act remains in force, and helps to define the relationship between Acts of Parliament and laws passed in self-governing British territories, as well as the legality of decisions made by territorial legislatures and governments. The power to amend the Colonial Laws Validity Act rests with the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
 
==See also==
* [[Statute of Westminster 1931]]
 
* ''[[StatuteCanada ofAct Westminster 19311982]]''
* ''[[Australia Act 1986]]''
* ''[[CanadaConstitution Act 19821986]]''
* ''[[Constitution Act 1986]]''
 
== External links ==
 
* {{UK-LEG|title=Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865}}
* [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1865/pdf/ukpga_18650063_en.pdf Official text of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865], as originally enacted, from the [[Office of Public Sector Information]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041222044039/http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r31400/jur2515/clva1865.html The text of the statute]
 
==Notes==
{{notefoot}}
 
==FootnotesReferences==
{{Reflist}}
 
==Further reading==
{{UK legislation}}
* {{cite journal |last = Castles |first = Alex C. | title = The Reception and Status of English Law in Australia |url = http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AdelLawRw/1963/1.html |year=1963 |volume=1|journal = The Adelaide Law Review |issue = |pages=1–31 |access-date = 9 February 2021 }}
* {{cite journal |last = Campbell |first = Enid | title = Colonial Legislation and the Laws of England |url = http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/journals/UTasLawRw/1965/3.html |year=1965 |volume=3|journal = University of Tasmania Law Review |issue = |pages=148–175 |access-date = 3 February 2021 }}
 
[[Category:1865 in law]]
[[Category:United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1865]]
[[Category:Constitution of Canada]]
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[[Category:British Empire]]
[[Category:Governance of the British Empire]]
[[Category:History of the Commonwealth of Nations]]
[[Category:1865 in lawDemocratization]]