The Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1623 (21 Jas. 1. c. 28) was an act of the Parliament of England that continued, revived and repealed various older acts.
In the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament remain in force until expressly repealed. Statute law revision gained a new momentum following the Union of the Crowns in 1603. Speaking in Parliament in 1609, King James I, proposing reform to the statutes, speaking from the throne of:
In 1616, Sir Francis Bacon, then Attorney General, submitted to King James I a proposal "touching the compiling and amendment of the laws of England", proposing four steps:
Lord Bacon's fall from grace in 1621, as well as other more immediate priorities on the parliamentary agenda, meant that his attempts at the revision of the statute law were not pursued. Despite this, parliament recognised the need to organise and clarify the statute book, ensuring that obsolete and contradictory laws did not remain in force, aligning with broader legal reforms sought by King James I.
Section 2 of the act provided that the acts affected by this act may be amended in the present parliamentary session.
Section 3 of the act permitted the exportation of grains (wheat, rye, peas, beans, barley, and malt) when their prices do not exceed specified thresholds, establishing customs duties on exported grain (two shillings per quarter on wheat and sixteen pence per quarter on other grains) and allowing subjects to transport and sell these commodities both domestically and internationally.
Section 4 of the act grants the King, his heirs, and successors the authority to temporarily prohibit grain exports from all or specific ports of the realm through a published proclamation, with violations subject to existing legal penalties, regardless of other provisions in the act.
Section 5 of the act exempted penalties for deficiencies in length, breadth, or weight of Welsh cottons priced under fifteen pence per yard or two shillings per goad, provided they are not mixed with hair or other deceptive materials, do not shrink more than half a yard per twelve yards in length, weigh at least fourteen ounces per yard, and measure at least three-quarters of a yard in width.
Section 1 of the act continued 62 enactments, listed in that section, extending their validity from the seventh year of King James's reign (1610) until the end of the first session of the next parliament.
Section 6 of the act revived all previous statutes that eliminated sanctuary protections for offences, restoring their full force and power despite any words of repeal contained in the statute passed in the first session of Parliament during the King's reign or in the present act.
Section 7 of the act completely abolished all sanctuaries and sanctuary privileges, prohibiting their admission or allowance in any case hereafter.
Section 8 of the act made the Perjury Act 1562 (5 Eliz. 1. c. 9) perpetual again, which was made perpetual by section 1 of the Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1586 (29 Eliz. 1. c. 5) but revived and continued until the end of the next parliamentary session by section 5 of the Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1603 (1 Jac. 1. c. 5).
Section 9 of the act revived and continued the Wild-fowl Act 1533 (25 Hen. 8. c. 11), which was repealed by the Wild Fowl Act 1549 (3 & 4 Edw. 6), until the end of the next parliamentary session.
Section 10 of the act revived and continued the Sherborne Causeway Act 1554 (1 M. Sess. 3. c. 5) until the end of the next parliamentary session.
Section 11 of the act repealed 70 enactments, listed in that section. Section 12 of the act provided that so much of the Horses Act 1540 (32 Hen. 8. c. 13) "as concerneth or inhibeteth the putting of horses into certain grounds, unless they be of statures in that act mentioned, under the pains therein contained, and that giveth authority to kill mares, fillies, foals or geldings, in certain cases in that act mentioned" would not extend to Cornwall until the end of the next parliamentary session.
The whole act was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 125).
The qualified terms of the repeal led to several acts being repealed by later Statute Law Revision Acts, including:
The limited territorial extent of the act to England and Wales meant that several acts were later repealed by the Statute Law Revision (Ireland) Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 98), which repealed for Ireland statutes from the Magna Carta until 1495 that were extended to Ireland by the passage of Poynings' Law 1495 (10 Hen. 7. c. 22 (I)).