1850: 13 & 14 Victoria c.21: An Act for shortening the Language used in Acts of Parliament.

[10th June 1850.]

BE it declared and enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same,

[Acts of Parliament may be altered, &c. in the same Session.]

That every Act to he passed after the Commencement of this Act may be altered, amended, or repealed in the same Session of Parliament, any Law or Usage to the contrary notwithstanding.

[Acts to be divided into Sections, without introductory Words.]

II. Be it enacted, That all Acts shall be divided into Sections, if there be more Enactments than One, which Sections shall be deemed to be substantive Enactments, without any introductory Words.

[Where any Act is referred to it shall be sufficient to cite the Year of the Reign, Chapter, and Section, &c.]

III. Be it enacted, That in any Act, when any former Act is referred to, it shall be sufficient, if such Act was made before the Seventh Year of Henry the Seventh, to cite the Year of the King’s Reign in which it was made, and where there are more Statutes than One in the same Year the Statute, and where there are more Chapters than One the Chapter; and if such Act referred to was made after the Fourth Year of Henry the Seventh, to cite the Year of the Reign, and where there are more Statutes or Sessions than One in the same Year the Statute or the Session (as the Case may require), and where there are more Chapters or Sections than One the Chapter or Section or Chapter and Section (as the Case may require), without reciting the Title of such Act, or the Provision of such Section, so referred to; and the Reference in all Cases shall be made according to the Copies of Statutes printed by the Queen’s Printer, or to the Copies thereof contained in the Reports of the Commissioners of Public Records: Provided that where it is only intended to amend or repeal any Portion only of such Section it shall be necessary still either to recite such Portion or to set forth the Matter or Thing intended to be amended or repealed.

[Interpretation of certain Words for future Acts.]

IV. Be it enacted, That in all Acts Words importing the Masculine Gender shall be deemed and taken to include Females, and the Singular to include the Plural, and the Plural the Singular, unless the contrary as to Gender or Number is expressly provided; and the Word “Month” to mean Calendar Month, unless Words be added showing Lunar Month to be intended; and “County” shall be held to mean also County of a Town or of a City, unless such extended Meaning is expressly excluded by Words; and the Word “Land” shall include Messuages, Tenements, and Hereditaments, Houses and Buildings, of any Tenure, unless where there are Words to exclude Houses and Buildings, or to restrict the Meaning to Tenements of some particular Tenure; and the Words “Oath,” “swear,” and “Affidavit” shall include Affirmation, Declaration, affirming, and declaring, in the Case of Persons by Law allowed to declare or affirm instead of swearing.

[Repealed Acts not to be revived, &c.]

V. Be it enacted, That where any Act repealing in whole or in part any former Act is itself repealed, such last Repeal shall not revive the Act or Provisions before repealed, unless Words be added reviving such Act or Provisions.

[Repealed Provisions of any Act to remain in force until the substituted Provisions come into force.]

VI. Be it enacted, That wherever any Act shall be made repealing in whole or in part any former Act, and substituting some Provision or Provisions instead of the Provision or Provisions repealed, such Provision or Provisions so repealed shall remain in force until the substituted Provision or Provisions shall come into operation by force of the last made Act.

[Acts to be deemed Public Acts.]

VII. Be it enacted, That every Act made after the Commencement of this Act shall be deemed and taken to be a Public Act, and shall be judicially taken notice of as such, unless the contrary be expressly provided and declared by such Act.

[Commencement of Act.]

VIII. Be it declared and enacted, That this Act shall commence and take effect from and immediately after the Commencement of the next Session of Parliament.

Source: A Collection of the Public General Statutes, 1850.

Further reading: Wikipedia.