CONSOLIDATING, CODIFYING AND AMENDING

STATUTES

INTRODUCTION

A statute can be termed as a written law that is enacted by the legislature, both on the
state and union level. Legislature is an organ of the government which has been
empowered by the Constitution of India to create and amend already existing laws
catering to the needs of the society. In simple words, a Statute can be defined as a
declaration of law on a particular subject. The law would be uniformly applied and will
be binding on all the citizens of the nation without any discrimination on any basis.
Depending upon the object, statutes can be classified in three broad categories, namely-

Amending Statutes
Consolidating Statutes
Codifying Statutes
CONSOLIDATING STATUTE

Consolidation literally means the action or process of making something

stronger. From the legal perspective, consolidation may be defined as “bringing
together a number of existing Acts of Parliament/ legislature on a particular subject
into one Act, without altering the law in any way”. It implies integrating together all the
important and same kinds of laws as one statute, to make it stronger and
comprehensive at the same time. The rationale behind Consolidation of Statutes is to
form a sole book of statutory law which would contain a complete and detailed form of
Acts, repealing the previous Acts on the same subject matter.

Consolidating statute is one which collects the statutory provisions relating to a

Particular topic, and embodies them in a single Act of Parliament, making only minor
amendments and improvements. [Administrator General of Bengal V. Prem LallMullick
(1895 LR)]. Consolidation of statutes is governed by the Consolidation of Enactment
(Procedure) Act, 1949. For example- theJJ ACT 2015 is an Act to consolidate and amend
laws relating to juveniles, encompassing within it all laws relating to children.

It is to be noted that consolidation of statute may not be just a mere compilation

of all the former provisions. Consolidated statute is one that repeals the previous statute
and presents the entire body of statutory law on the issue in its totality. In different
words, it is a statute that combines different laws on a certain topic into the form of a
single statute.
The end motive of consolidating statutes is to create a single book of statutory
law with all the relevant Acts in complete and detailed form, repealing the earlier Acts.
Consolidation is more than just a straightforward and a plain assemblage of existing
statutes; all laws and requirements must be implemented in coordination with one
another.
According to Watson, “the goal of consolidation is to compile all existing legal
precedent on a specific topic and bring it up to date with the moment the consolidating
Act was passed.” When consolidating the statutes, it is paramount to keep in mind how
society is evolving and thereby making the necessary changes in the statute which is
now being shaped.
Thus, it can be concluded that consolidation of statutes is the reduction into a
systematic form of the whole of the statute relating to a given subject. The purpose of
the consolidating statute is to present the whole body of statutory law on a subject in
complete form, repealing the former statutes.
For instance:

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996: An Act to consolidate the law on

Arbitration in India - Arbitration Act 1940, Arbitration (Protocol and Convention) Act
1937, Foreign Awards (Recognition and Enforcement) Act, 1961.

The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973: Entire law relating to criminal procedure
as found in different statutes has been consolidated.

FEATURES OF CONSOLIDATING STATUTE

 When construing similar sections in a consolidating statute, it is apposite to make
reference to the previous state of the law or to judicial rulings interpreting the repealed
Acts because a consolidating statute is not meant to alter the law.
An amending Act may also consolidate. The words “An Act to consolidate and
amend” are typically used to denote this additional objective in the preamble or long
title.

KINDS OF CONSOLIDATION

There are broadly three kinds of consolidation which are as follows:

Consolidating without any changes:

In such a case, the consolidation of statutes is just the plain compilation of diverse
statutes which are of the same category and are created for a similar kind of offences or
circumstances in order to make it easier for the public as well as the legal luminaries.

Consolidating with minor changes:

The consolidation of statutes is done by compiling different statutes with minor

alterations to make it clear for the people. The minor changes might be made for
making every provision well synchronised.

Consolidating with proper amendments:

Consolidation of statutes is not just a compilation of different statutes which are

based on the same subject matter. Sometimes, significant changes are needed to make a
law more useful and updated. Some of the parts may be revised, and some new
provisions may be added. Some of the old provisions are altered or even repealed.

THE RULES/ PRESUMPTIONS REGARDING CONSOLIDATING STATUTES

There are following three main rules/ presumptions regarding consolidating

statutes-
 Parliament does not intend to alter the existing law.
The object of the Act was merely to reproduce the law as it stood before.
[Gilbert v. Gilbert (1928)]

The words used in the Consolidating Act bear the same meaning as they were at
the time the Consolidated Act were passed [Crook V Edmondson {1960}]

JUDICIAL PRECEDENTS

In O’Toole v. Scott1, the Judicial Committee held that section 70(2) of the New
South Wales Justice Act, 1902, a consolidating statute should be given the same
construction as Section 12 of the English Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1848, which it re-
enacted.

In R v. Governor of Brixton2, it was observed that in interpreting a consolidating

statute account is taken of judicial decisions in provisions contained in the statute now
codified.

For instance: Section 497 IPC, 1860 about adultery was declared unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court. If IPC is to be re-enacted by a consolidating statute, this fact
should be incorporated in the consolidating statute. (Joseph Shrine v Union of India)

In Food Controller v. Cork3, it was observed that it would not always be safe to
adopt without question the judicial interpretation placed upon enactment consolidated.
To ascertain the present law, it is necessary to consider a section in the framework in
which it now stands.

CODIFYING STATUTE

1 [1965] AC 939.
2[1960] 2 QB 89.
3[1923] UKHL J0725-2.
 The codification of statute means the statute which provides provisions
regarding a certain matter of law. It exhaustively contains the whole on the subject
matter. The maker of the law tries to subsume and amalgamate both the already
existing laws and the common laws regarding the subject while creating the law. The
purpose of codifying the statute is to bring in uniformity of the laws by bringing the
scattered laws together at one place and applying them in an orderly fashion. If any
major or minor change or say amendment is to be made to the codified laws, then only
the legislature may change the law by passing the amendment bill.

According to Craies, “Codifying Acts codify the existing law. The object is not
merely to declare the law upon some particular subject but to declare it in the form of
code.” Examples: The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, The Hindu Succession Act, 1956.

Lord Hershell explained the principles applicable to the interpretation of

codifying statute in Bank of England v. Vagliano 4 wherein he quoted that “I think the
proper course is in the first instance to examine the language of the statute and to ask
what is its natural meaning, uninfluenced by any considerations derived from the
previous state of law, and not to start with inquiring how the law previously stood, and
then, assuming that it was probably intended to leave it unaltered, to see if the words of
the enactment will bear an interpretation in conformity with the view. If a statute
intended to embody in a code a particular branch of the law it is to be treated in this
fashion, as it appears to me that its utility will be almost entirely destroyed and the very
object with which it was enacted will be disturbed.”

In Joseph Peter v. State of Goa5, the court laid down that a code is self-sufficient in
itself and wholesome and that creates and draws a distinction between a code and an
ordinary law. It is only in extraordinary situations for instance to remove some
ambiguity or where the code is silent, recourse to the previous law may be reasonable.
Where the language is comprehensible no recourse to the previous law shall be taken.

4 1891 AC 107.
5 AIR 1977 SC 1812.
 In W.T.Commissioner v. Chander Sen6 Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956
was in issue. Section 8 of the Act includes son and excludes grandson as a legal heir but
includes son of a predeceased son as legal heir. The court held that the express words of
section 8 can’t be disregarded and must exist. With that the express language which
excludes son’s son but includes the sonof a predeceased son can’t be overlooked.

In Bank of England v. Vaglicano Brothers7 it was stated that a codified act is

approached in a quite different spirit from a consolidating act. In construing a codified
statute first the language used in the statute should be interpreted by understanding its
natural meaning, un-influential by any consideration derived from the previous statute.

In the same case stated above Lord Halsbury elaborated that “construing a
statute by adding it to words which were neither found therein nor for which the
authority could be found in the language of the statute itself, is to sin against one of the
most familiar rule of construction and I am wholly unable to adopt the view that where
a statute is expressly said to codify the law you are at liberty to go outside the law so
created because before the existence of that code another law prevailed.”

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONSOLIDATING AND CODIFYING STATUTE

SR CONSOLIDATING STATUTE CODIFYING STATUTE

NO.

1. Consolidating statutes is a statute A codifying statute is one which

which combines the statutory consistsexhaustively of the entire of the law
provisions relating to given subject- upon a particular subject, the draughtsman
matter, and puts them in a single attempting to comprise in which code both
Act of Parliament. It does not the pre-existing statutory provisions which
assimilate the case laws. includes some customs as well and also,
rules relating to the matters. Codifying

6 AIR 1986 SC 1753.

7(1891) A.C. 107.
 statute systematises case law as well as
statutes.

2. It showcases the entire structure of It presents an orderly statement of the main

statutory law on the subject of rules of law on a particular matter which are
repeal of a law that already existed. scattered in the form of customs and
practices.

3. Consolidating statutes should be A codifying statute should also be

analysed and interpreted interpreted according to the normal canons
considering the ordinary canons of of constructions but help from repealed
construction and the aid of repealed enactments can be taken commonly to
enactments should be taken only in resolve any ambiguity.
cases of uncertainty.

4. The primary rule of construction of While constructing the codifying Act, the
consolidating statutes is to examine language used in the statute is examined in
the language used in the statute the context, but at the same time, repealed
itself without any reference to the statutes may not be referred to.
repealed statutes.

5. Former statutes are repealed. Former statutes survive.

6. Judgement may refer to earlier state Unless the code is ambiguous or silent, the
of law and the judicial decisions court cannot go beyond the letter of law.
interpreting in repealed Acts.

7. Presumption has no relevance. The presumption is that the same words

used at different places in the same Act
would bear the same meaning in case they
hold good with respect to the new statute
enacted.
 AMENDING STATUTES

Any kind of alteration like, adding new laws or altering the old laws or making
certain changes to the existing laws, which is contained under the Constitution of India,
the legislative bills or the statutes, made by the government is known as amendment.
Amendments are made to the existing constitution or the statutes. These can also be
made to the bills that in the course of their passage through the legislature. The
amendments to the Constitution of a nation could completely change the fundamental
status of the nation’s political system and governing institutions. The purpose of
amendment is to make such an addition to, or change in the original act as in the
prerogative of the legislature will, better carry out the aim and object for which it was
enacted. Where an expression bearing a doubtful meaning has been interpreted by the
Court consistently as to carry a particular meaning, the same expression if used in
subsequent legislations will bear that particular meaning unless a contrary intention
appears from the terms of the statute.

Amending statute is an statute which repeals any enactment by amending the

text of an enactment by the express omission, insertion or substitution of any matter.
The distinction between repeal and amendment is one of degree and not of kind. In
amending statute, the original identity of the statute does not change. The amending
statutes may be recognized from the language used in the “long title” of the statute.
Example- Motor Vehicle Act 1988; the long title reads as- “An Act to consolidate and
amend the law relating to Motor Vehicles.”

It has been observed by the Supreme Court in a Diamond Sugar Mills v. State of
Uttar Pradesh8, that it is true that when words and phrases in the subsequent statutes
replace the earlier statute, a presumption exists in favour of the fact that these have
been used in accordance with the meanings attributed to them by the Courts. This
presumption, however, is not conclusive or absolute and may be rebutted by express
language of the statutes or by necessary implication. The presumption will be all the

8 Appeal (civil) 35 of 1959.

more fragile if a particular meaning has been given to an expression by the Courts only
once or twice. An amended act must be read as if the words of amendment had been
written into the Act except where that would lead to an inconsistency.

In Vajravelu v. Special Deputy Collector9, the question of interpretation of the

expression compensation used in Article 31 of the Constitution was involved. The
Article provided compensation to be given before a property was compulsorily
acquired or requisitioned. Subba Rao, J. mentioned in the Supreme Court that since the
word compensation was judicially interpreted in State of West Bengal v. Bela Banarjee 10,
and the parliament used the same word as were found in Article 31 before the
amendment, it is apparent that the Parliament had accepted the meaning of the word
given to it earlier by the Court. It is also not proper to assume always that a change in
phraseology introduced by amending a provision necessarily means a change in the
contents of the provisions or in its meaning because it has always to be correctly seen
whether the words were used to change the meaning or to merely clarify the law.

CONCLUSION

Consolidating and codifying statutes provides the judicial framework of a clear

picture of a particular law and makes sure that each provision is placed correctly in its
truest legal sense. To come towards a conclusion, it may be summed up that
interpretation of statutes shall be made in a way which gives people utmost justice and
leads to welfare of the society at large. The amendments in the statute on the other
hand that takes place subsequently, works as an aid to give a better picture and clarity
to the provisions of law given to us through different kinds of consolidating and
codifying statute which will ultimately cater to the needs of the contemporary world. It
is pertinent for the judicial arrangement to keep every facet of law in mind and use the
power of interpretation granted to them to its full extent and set examples for

91965 AIR 1017.

101954 AIR 170.
generations to come and years ahead while serving justice to the masses through the
examination and interpretation.