The act was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of the revised edition of the statutes, then in progress.

Section 2 of, and schedule 2 to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict.

c. 79) replaced the text "The Schedule" in the partial repeal of the Industrial Schools Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict.)

In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed.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] In 1816, both Houses of Parliament, passed resolutions that an eminent lawyer with 20 clerks be commissioned to make a digest of the statutes, which was declared "very expedient to be done."

[3] At the start of the parliamentary session in 1853, Lord Cranworth announced his intention to the improvement of the statute law and in March 1853, appointed the Board for the Revision of the Statute Law to repeal expired statutes and continue consolidation, with a wider remit that included civil law.

[2] The Board issued three reports, recommending the creation of a permanent body for statute law reform.

An alternative approach, focusing on expunging obsolete laws from the statute book, followed by consolidation, was proposed by Peter Locke King MP, who was heavily critical of the expenditure of the Commission and the lack of results.

Wood to expurgate the statute book of all acts which, though not expressly repealed, were not in force, working backwards from the present time.

[7] In his speech introducing the bill, the Lord Chancellor, Hugh Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns mentioned that this was the eleventh volume of statute revision work and that further consolidation bills would be presented to Parliament for consideration during the parliamentary recess.

[8] The bill had its third reading in the House of Lords on 29 July 1874 and passed, without amendments.

[12] The bill had its third reading in the House of Commons on 4 August 1875 and passed, without amendments.

[14] The act was intended, in particular, to facilitate the preparation of a revised edition of the statutes.

Section 1 of the act also ensured that repealed enactments that have been incorporated into other laws would continue to have legal effect in those contexts.

c. 77), and provided that any previous legal protections or provisions that had been included in the original Act would not apply to this repeal.