This section provided, amongst other things, that the enactments described in Schedule 1 to this Act were repealed, subject to the provisions of this Act and subject to the exceptions and qualifications in that Schedule.

In a report dated 6 April 1993, the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission said that sections 3(1)(c) to (f) and 4 "provided in general terms for the repeal of or omission of various recurrent words relating to obsolete civil procedure (which occurred mainly in now obsolete statutory provisions for the recovery of penalties by common informers), to Scottish stewartries (which occurred mainly in obsolete definitions of "sheriff" or "county") and to self-governing Dominions of the Old Commonwealth".

The provision relating to Scottish stewartries had been intended to give effect to section 7 of the Interpretation Act 1889 which had been repealed as obsolete by the Interpretation Act 1978.

They said that the "utility of these provisions proved to be marginal and in practice they were little used" and that they were "spent or unnecessary now".

Section 5 and Schedule 2 authorised the citation of 158 earlier Acts by short titles.