In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed.

Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in the late 18th-century, raised questions about the system and structure of the common law and the poor drafting and disorder of the existing statute book.

[1] In 1806, the Commission on Public Records passed a resolution requesting the production of a report on the best mode of reducing the volume of the statute book.

[2] From 1810 to 1825, The Statutes of the Realm was published, providing for the first time the authoritative collection of acts.

[2] By the early 19th century, British customs law, relating to trade, navigation, the import and export of goods, and the collection of customs revenue, had become increasingly intricate and difficult to navigate due to the large number of acts passed that had accumulated over many years.

The preamble of the act acknowledged that the existing system had become an impediment to trade and the "Ends of Justice".

[3] In 1810, the Lords of the Treasury asked Nicholas Jickling to produce a Digest of the Laws of the Customs, which was published in 1815, numbering 1,375 pages from the earliest period to 53 Geo.

[4] This Digest was continuously published to bring the state of the law up to date to the end of every session.

In 1814, the Commission of Public Records published their 14th Report, recommending consolidation of the statute law.

By a letter dated 9 August 1823, Secretary to the Treasury, John Charles Herries MP, asked J. D. Hume, Controller of the Port of London, to "undertake the preparation of a general law, or set of laws, for the consolidation of the customs of the United Kingdom".

[4] The original plan for the consolidation was outlined in a letter dated November 18, 1824, from Mr. Herries, Secretary of the Treasury, to the Customs Commissioners, proposing:[4] The plan proposed a two-pronged approach: Despite the intention to create a new legal code that would supersede all previous customs laws, with a declaration that no law predating the new code would remain in force, the general repeal clause was withdrawn, the operation of the repeal of the enumerated acts was postponed for six months and full implementation of the new consolidated code was deferred to a future date.

[4] The acts simplified tariff schedules, to make it easier for traders to understand duties, revised penalties for customs offences to ensure fair and consistent enforcement and introduced standardised procedures for customs declarations, to reduce administrative burdens and increase efficiency at ports.

The Merchant Shipping Acts Repeal Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 2 March 1854, presented by the President of the Board of Trade, Edward Cardwell MP.

[8] Section 10 of the act provided that the Receiver General of Droits of Admiralty shall conform to directions of the Board of Trade.

[8] Section 16 of the act provided that the penalty on masters of ships leaving seamen in the United Kingdom from Asia, Africa, the South Sea, the Pacific Ocean or any country not having a consul in the United Kingdom be a fine not exceeding 30l.

The preamble, sections 3 and 4 and the schedule were repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict.

c. 60) was passed, which further consolidated merchant shipping law and repealed section 16 of the act.