A Bill to repeal 3,200 outdated laws dating back to the time of William the Conqueror was unveiled this evening by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
"Many of these laws are written in language that is obscure and published in books that are out of print. This means that Irish people are theoretically bound by laws which they cannot find and if they could find them, could not be expected to understand," Mr Ahern said.
The Statute Law Revision Bill 2007 is the most comprehensive revision of the Statute Book ever undertaken in the history of the State. Laws dating back to 1066 will be repealed following a comprehensive review of 26,371 statute by the Attorney General's office.
The Bill will repeal all public general statutes enacted before 6th December 1922, though a "white list" of Acts have been preserved.
These laws were found to have current relevance and must be replaced with modern laws before they can be repealed.
The review found some 9,266 were already repealed and 12,557 were not applicable to Ireland. This left 4,550 statutes of which 3,200 will be repealed and 1,350 will be pending a more comprehensive review. "It is important that we keep our statute book up to date and relevant and that we clear from the statute book any laws which are obsolete, as well as identifying those which are still of relevance.
Many of laws were remnants of British rule and the various parliaments which sat in Ireland between the Norman conquest in 1169 and the Act of Union in 1800. Among the laws repealed will be the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which preserved Britain's authority over Ireland. The Belfast Agreement Agreement ion 1988 rendered teh statute redundant.
The review also uncovered a law from 1542 which maintains the King of England and his heirs and successors as monarchs of Ireland.
It was repealed by the Dail in 1962 but recent research revealed a second 1542 law which declared Henry VIII to be the King of Ireland which had never been repealed. The Bill also makes publicly a complete list of the retained pre-1922 statutes available for the first time.
Speaking the Church of St Werburgh in Dublin, the Taoiseach said: "The Bill will be a landmark development in creating a modern and relevant statute book."