Hemant GulatiIn general, abolish or repeal means cancellation. However, in the context of law, it means abolishment of statutes. This signifies that once a statute is abolished, it remains null or void.
There are two types of statutes: temporary and perpetual. Temporary statutes as the name suggests remain in effect, for a short or specific period of time, but, perpetual statute is the one that remains effective until it’s repealed by the legislative act.
The power to repeal a statute is conferred to the legislature. It is similar to the powers it has for the enactment of a statute. As per the constitution, both the union and the state legislature have the power to enact, however they are restricted to delegate the power of repealing.
Objective of the Repealing Act:
The main objective of the act is to remove any outdated or old matter from the body of law to bring changes for inclusive and Socio-economic development. After the removal of the outdated matter, it is the court that takes decision on whether the new provision meets its goal and has different intentions or not.
There are two kinds of repeal:
1. Express repeal: An expression which implies the removal of previously enacted statute by bringing changes with the words present under the new statute enacted. Experts at Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, New Law College, Pune believe that repealing an earlier statute with express words is essential to bring new reforms.
2. Implied repeal: For instance, there arises an inconsistency or an issue in the existing statute or it becomes necessary to replace the statute with a new one, it is important for the implication of repeal. This means that the earlier or previously enacted law shall be abolished or replaced by the new one.
Effects or consequences of repeal:
With respect to common law, a statute repealed is repealed along with all the rights.
As a general consequence, the statute after getting repealed becomes ineffective.
In this context, the professionals at Bharati Vidyapeeth deemed University, New Law College, Pune, feel that understanding the effects of abolishing a statute is important and thus forms an important part of learning.
Hence, it can be understood that both the terms amendment and repeal mean the same thing as it leads to either omission or addition. Both the union and state legislature are empowered to bring necessary changes, to abolish obsolete and unnecessary matter of the statute and include new and updated information.
