c. 59) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed for England and Wales enactments relating to civil procedure from 1235 to 1880 which had ceased to be in force or had become necessary.

[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] 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."

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Wood to expurgate the statute book of all acts which, though not expressly repealed, were not in force, working backwards from the present time.

[5] The bill had its second reading in the House of Lords on 7 July 1881, introduced by the Lord Chancellor, Roundell Palmer, 1st Baron Selborne, and was committed to a committee of the whole house,[5] which met and reported on 8 July 1881, without amendments.

Section 1 of the act also ensured that repealed enactments that have been incorporated into other laws would continue to have legal effect in those contexts.

[11] Section 5 of the act provided that any repeals would not revive any former rights, offices, or jurisdictions that had already been abolished.