LAWS OF GUYANA
Law Revision Cap. 2:02 3
CHAPTER 2:02
LAW REVISION ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
3. Establishment and Functions of Commission.
4. Form of Publication.
5. Inclusion or removal of pages to be authorised by order.
6. Periodical revision of Laws of Guyana.
7. Contents of Laws of Guyana.
8. Power to omit certain laws.
9. Laws of Guyana to constitute sole and proper Statute Book.
10. Validity of laws not affected by omission from the Laws.
11. Powers of Commission.
12. No power to make alterations of substance.
13. Construction of references to laws embodied in the Laws of
Guyana.
14. Rectification of error or omission in the Laws of Guyana.
15. Alternative mode of amending Laws.
COMMISSION’S POWERS IN RESPECT OF A REVISION
16. Commission’s powers with respect to revision of a law imposing
a fee or charge.
17. Commission’s powers with respect to revision of a law imposing
a specified monetary penalty.
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LAWS OF GUYANA
4 Cap. 2:02 Law Revision
CHAPTER 2:02
LAW REVISION ACT
4 of 1972
Short title.
Interpretation.
Establishment
and functions
of Commis-
sion.
An Act to provide for the Revision of the Laws of Guyana and for
matters connected therewith, including Miscellaneous
Amendments, Repeals and Validations.
[23RD SEPTEMBER, 1972]
1. This Act may be cited as the Law Revision Act.
2. In this Act—
―Act‖ includes part of an Act but does not include subsidiary legislation
made under the Act;
―Commission‖ means the Law Revision Commission established under
section 3;
―in force‖ in relation to any written law means made and brought into
operation;
―Law Revision Order‖ means an order made by the Commission under
section 5;
―revision date‖ means the 1st January in each year unless with respect
to any year the Commission, by order, directs that there shall be no
revision date in that year or appoints either in addition to or in
substitution for the 1st January some other date or dates to be the
revision date or the revision dates for that year; and the ―relevant
revision date‖ means the revision date in relation to which the Laws
of Guyana were last revised under section 6.
3. (1) There shall be a Law Revision Commission consisting of a
chairman and not more than four other members whose functions shall
be to prepare, publish and maintain in accordance with this Act an edition
of the laws of Guyana to be known as the ―Laws of Guyana‖.
LAWS OF GUYANA
Law Revision Cap. 2:02 5
(2) The Attorney-General, the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, and
their successors in office, shall be members of the Commission, and the
Attorney-General and his successors in office shall be the Chairman of
the Commission.
(3) All other appointments to the Commission shall be made by
the President.
(4) The Commission may delegate all or any of its functions
under this Act to any one or more of its members.
4. The Laws of Guyana shall be published in loose-leaf form or in
such other form as the Commission may determine and shall comprise
such pages as may be authorised to be included therein under section 5.
5. (1) The Commission with the approval of the President shall by
order authorise the inclusion in the Laws of Guyana of every page to be
comprised therein, and every page so authorised, and no other, shall form
part of the Laws of Guyana.
(2) The Commission with the approval of the President may by
order direct the removal of pages from the Laws of Guyana and any
page so directed to be removed shall cease to form part of the Laws of
Guyana.
(3) Every page comprised in the Laws of Guyana shall bear a
reference to the Law Revision Order by which its inclusion therein was
authorised.
6. (1) The Laws of Guyana shall be revised as soon as practicable
after each revision date, that is to say, the Commission shall prepare the
necessary pages and make the necessary orders for the inclusion of
these pages in the Laws of Guyana and (with respect to the second or
any subsequent revision) for the removal of pages no longer required, to
the intent that the Laws of Guyana shall, subject to such omissions as are
authorised under section 8, contain all the written laws in force in Guyana
on such revision date.
Form of
Publication.
Inclusion or
removal of
pages to be
authorised by
order.
Periodical
revision of
Laws of
Guyana.
LAWS OF GUYANA
6 Cap. 2:02 Law Revision
(2) The Commission may authorise the inclusion under section 5
in the Laws of Guyana of an Appendix of pages containing such treaties
and conventions and such constitutional, legislative or other documents
as may from time to time be specified in the Schedule and the
Commission shall have power by order to amend the said Schedule.
Contents of
Laws of
Guyana.
Power to omit
certain laws.
7. (1) The Laws of Guyana shall contain—
(a) every Act in force in Guyana on the relevant revision
date, unless omitted under section 8;
(b) such subsidiary legislation in force in Guyana on the
relevant revision date as the Commission thinks fit to include
therein;
(c) any enactments or documents authorised to be
included in the Laws of Guyana under section 6(2);
(d) a chronological list of Acts, a table of contents and an
index;
(e) a list of the Acts omitted under the authority of section
8(d), (e) or (f).
(2) The Commission may, if it thinks fit, include in the Laws of
Guyana written laws made but not in force on the relevant revision date
or written laws made after the relevant revision date, and in any such
case there shall be inserted in the Laws an appropriate note with
reference to the commencement date of such written law.
8. It shall not be necessary to include in the Laws of Guyana—
(a) any Appropriation Act or Supplementary Appropria-
tion Act;
(b) any applied law;
(c) any subsidiary legislation which the Commission
thinks fit to omit;
(d) any loan Act or loan guarantee Act;
(e) any Act of a temporary nature which can, in the
opinion of the Commission, be conveniently omitted;
(f)any Act authorised by order of the President to be
omitted from the Laws of Guyana.
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9. Subject to sections 10 and 12, the pages duly authorised for
inclusion in the Laws of Guyana shall, in all courts and for all purposes,
be the sole and proper Statute Book of Guyana in respect of the written
laws contained therein as in force on the relevant revision date.
10. No written law omitted, under the authority of this Act or
otherwise, from the Laws of Guyana shall be deemed to be without force
and validity by reason only of the fact that it is so omitted.
11. In the preparation of the Laws of Guyana the Commission shall
have the following powers:
(a) to omit
(i) all written laws or parts of written laws which have
been repealed expressly or by necessary implication, or
which have expired or have become spent or have had their
effect;
(ii) all repealing enactments contained in written laws
and also all tables or lists of repealed enactments, whether
contained in schedules or otherwise;
(iii) all preambles and long titles to written laws, where
such omission can, in the opinion of the Commission,
conveniently be made;
(iv) all words of enactment in any written law or provision
of a written law;
(v) all provisions prescribing the date when, or manner in
which, any written law or part of any written law is to come
into force, where such omission can, in the opinion of the
Commission, conveniently be made;
(vi) all amending written laws or parts of written laws
where the amendments effected by such written laws have
been embodied by the Commission in the written laws to
which they relate;
(b) to consolidate into one written law any two or more
written laws in pari materia, making the alterations thereby
rendered necessary in the consolidated written laws, and
Laws of
Guyana to
constitute sole
and proper
Statute Book.
Validity of
laws not
affected by
omission from
the Laws.
Powers of
Commission.
LAWS OF GUYANA
8 Cap. 2:02 Law Revision
affixing such date thereto as may seem most convenient;
(c) to alter the order of the provisions in any written law
and, in all cases where it is necessary to do so, to renumber
the provisions of any written law;
(d) to alter the form of arrangement of any provision of
any written law, either by combining it in whole or in part with
another provision or other provisions, or by dividing it into two
or more provisions or by transposing words;
(e) to divide any written law, whether consolidated or not,
into parts, or other divisions and to give such parts or divisions
a suitable heading;
(f) to transfer any provisions contained in any written law
from that written law to any other written law to which it more
properly belongs or to a separate written law;
(g) to arrange the written laws, whether consolidated or
not, in any group or sequence that may be convenient
irrespective of the date of enactment;
(h) to add a long title, a short title or a citation to any
written law which may require it, and, if necessary, to alter
the long title, short title or citation of any written law;
(i) to shorten and simplify the phraseology of any written
law;
(j) to correct grammatical and typographical errors, or any
clerical or printing errors in any written law, and for that
purpose to make verbal additions, omissions or alterations not
affecting the meaning of any written law;
(k) to add, delete, alter and substitute definitions of terms
and expressions in any written law;
(1) to supply or alter marginal notes, head notes or
headings;
(m) to correct cross-references;
(n) to make such formal alterations as to names, localities,
offices, titles and otherwise as may be necessary to bring any
written law into conformity with the circumstances of
Guyana;
(o) to make such modifications and adaptations and to
attach such qualifications and exceptions to any written law
as may appear to be necessary or desirable by reason of
LAWS OF GUYANA
Law Revision Cap. 2:02 9
changes in the constitution of Guyana or of any
Commonwealth territory or generally in the circumstances of
Guyana or in the Government or the public service thereof;
(p) to do all things relating to formand method which may
be necessary for the perfecting of the Laws of Guyana.
12. Nothing in this Act, except in sections 16 and 17, shall be
construed to confer power on the Commission to make any alterations
or amendments in the substance of any written law.
13. Where in any written law or other instrument or document
reference is made to any written law the provisions of which have been
by virtue of this Act embodied in the Laws of Guyana, such reference
shall where necessary and practicable be deemed to extend and apply
to the corresponding provisions in the Laws of Guyana.
14. (1) Where any error or omission in the Laws of Guyana comes
to the attention of the Commission, it shall be its duty to take the
necessary measures to rectify such error or omission forthwith.
(2) Such error or omission may be rectified–
(a) by means of an amendment to the Laws of Guyana
effected by order of the Commission.
(b) either alternatively or in addition to the means
provided in paragraph (a), by the inclusion in and removal
from the Laws of Guyana, in accordance with section 5, of
such pages as the circumstances may require.
(3) An amending order under subsection (2)(a) or a Law
Revision Order under subsection 2(b) may have retrospective effect to
the date of coming into operation of the Law Revision Order from which
the error or omission resulted.
15. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 6(1), where the
Commission deems it expedient, in the interests of economy or
convenience, in revising any page of the Laws of Guyana to which an
amendment has been made since the last revision or to which the
Commission proposes to make an amendment, the Commission may, as
No power to
make alter-
ations of
substance.
Construction
of references
to laws
embodied in
the Laws of
Guyana.
Rectification of
error or
omission in the
Laws of
Guyana.
Alternative
mode of
amending
Laws.
LAWS OF GUYANA
10 Cap. 2:02 Law Revision
an alternative to incorporating the amendment in the Laws of Guyana
by removing the page and inserting in its place a page setting out the law
as amended–
(a) allow the page to which the amendment relates to
continue to form part of the Laws of Guyana; and
(b) include in the Laws of Guyana a page (in this section
called an ―amendment page‖) setting out the particulars of the
amendment.
(2) The exercise of its powers under this section in respect of an
amendment shall in no way prejudice the power of the Commission at
any time to incorporate that amendment in the Laws of Guyana by
removing the amended page and inserting in its place a page setting out
the law as amended.
(3) An amendment page shall for all purposes form part of the
Laws of Guyana and shall be included in or removed from the Laws of
Guyana in the same manner as any other page of the Laws of Guyana.
COMMISSION’S POWERS IN RESPECT OF A REVISION
Commission’s
powers with
respect to
revision of a
law imposing a
fee or charge.
[6 of 1997]
16. (1) In the first revision under this Act, after the enactment of this
section, where any law (in whatever terms) prescribes, as a fee or
charge (not being a tax or a duty), or as the rate of such fee or charge,
a sum which comprises–
(a) dollars and cents, the Commission may delete the
cents;
(b) cents only, the Commission may substitute for the
cents a dollar.
(2) Where any law prescribes a fee or charge referred to in
subsection (1) such fee or charge shall after compliance with subsection
(1), be increased in the manner provided by section 17(1) to (3),
inclusive, as if the fee or charge were a monetary penalty within the
meaning of the said section 17(1) to (3).
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Law Revision Cap. 2:02 11
17. ( l ) In the first revision under this Act, after the enactment of
this section, of any written law imposing a specified monetary
penalty, the Commission shall, in lieu of such penalty, substitute a
penalty calculated in accordance with the provisions of subsections
(2) and (3).
(2) The penalty shall first be increased as follows–
(a) where the law imposing the penalty or effecting the
last amendment thereto was made before the year 1975 by
multiplying the penalty by sixty-five;
(b) where the law imposing the penalty or effecting the
last amendment thereto was made in or after the year 1975
but before the 1st January, 1985, by multiplying the penalty by
fifty-five;
(c) where the law imposing the penalty or effecting the
last amendment thereto was made in or after the 1st January,
1985, but before the 1 st
January, 1985, by multiplying the
penalty by three.
(3) The figure arrived at in calculating the increased penalty (in
dollars) in accordance with subsection (2) and any monetary penalty
imposed by a law made in 1995 or after (if not a multiple of five) shall
be rounded off to the next higher figure which is a multiple of five.
(4) Any sum specified in any law for the purpose of a bond or
recognizance into which anyone is to enter in respect of a criminal
charge or matter shall be increased in the manner provided by subsection
(1) to (3), inclusive, as if the sum were a monetary penalty within the
meaning of those subsections.
(5) Any sum specified in any law as a monetary penalty which
any authority is authorised to impose in subsidiary legislation in respect
of a criminal offence shall be increased in the manner provided by
subsections (1) to (3), inclusive, as if the sum were a monetary penalty
within the meaning of those subsections.
Commission’s
power with
respect to
revision of a
law imposing a
specified
monetary
penalty.
[6 of 1997]
LAWS OF GUYANA
12 Cap. 2:02 Law Revision
SCHEDULE
DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED IN APPENDIX TO THE LAWS OF GUYANA.
1. Articles of Capitulation proposed in 1803 by the Governor
General and the Court of Policy of the Colonies of Essequibo and
Demerara, and the Commanding Officers of the Sea and Land Forces
of the Batavian Republic in the said Colony, to their Excellencies the
Commanders-in-Chief of His Britannic Majesty’s Sea and Land Forces
off Demerara, with the Answers to such articles; and Additional
Articles thereto.
2. The Act relating to the Boundaries between Berbice and
Surinam (7th February, 1800), in the English version only.
3. A Proclamation by the Provisional Government and other
Members of the Court of Policy and Criminal Justice in the Colony of
Berbice relating to the Capitulation of the Colony (27th September,
1803); and Additional Article thereto.
4. Award of the Tribunal of Arbitration constituted under Article I
of the Treaty of Arbitration signed at Washington on the 2nd February,
1897, between Great Britain and the United States of Venezuela, dated
the 3rd October, 1899.
5. Award of His Majesty the King of Italy with regard to the
boundary between the Colony of British Guiana and the United States
of Brazil, dated the 6th June, 1904.
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