It provided reform to the statute law in the areas of administration of justice, ecclesiastical law, education, finance, Hereford and Worcester, inclosure acts, Scottish Local Acts, Slave Trade Acts, as well as other miscellaneous items.

Paragraph 3 was repealed by section 109(3) of, and Schedule 10 to the Courts Act 2003.

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 was repealed in its entirety.

[4][5] The repeal did not make slavery legal since it only applied to the British Empire, slavery having been illegal in Britain long before.

Moreover, sections of the Slave Trade Act 1824, Slave Trade Act 1843 and Slave Trade Act 1873 continued in force and the Human Rights Act 1998 incorporates into British law Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights which prohibits holding people as slaves.