An Act for consolidating enactments relating to the interpretation of Acts of Parliament, and for further shortening their language.
This Act may be cited as the Interpretation Act 1897.
Notwithstanding anything in this Act the Acts mentioned in the Schedule shall continue in force until specifically repealed, but, except as hereinafter provided, shall apply only to Acts heretofore passed.
Sections 14, 15 and 16 of the Act sixteenth Victoria number one, and sections 7 and 9 of the Act twenty-second Victoria number twelve, and so much of section 10 of the last-mentioned Act as relates to the jurisdiction of the courts therein mentioned, shall also continue to apply to Acts hereafter passed until further provision shall be made with respect thereto.
This Act:
(a) applies to this Act,
(b) except where otherwise expressly provided in this Act, applies to all Acts passed after the commencement of this Act and to all instruments made after that commencement under any Acts whenever passed, and
(c) notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, except subsection (I) of this section and subsection (II) of section 14A, does not apply to Acts passed before that commencement or to instruments made before that commencement under any such Acts.
Every Act reserved for the signification of Her Majesty’s pleasure thereon shall be deemed to commence, and shall take effect on the day on which the fact of Her Majesty’s assent shall be proclaimed by the Governor in the Gazette, or on such day thereafter as the Act itself prescribes.
Every Act to which the Royal assent shall be given by the Governor, for and on behalf of Her Majesty, shall be deemed to commence and shall take effect on and from the day on which such Act shall receive the Royal assent, unless the contrary intention appears in such Act.
(I) The date of the proclamation in the Gazette of the fact of Her Majesty’s assent to an Act reserved for the signification of Her Majesty’s pleasure thereon, and also
(II) The date purporting to be that of the Royal assent by the Governor, for and on behalf of Her Majesty, which shall appear on the copy of an Act printed by the Government Printer, or which shall be printed on the copy of such Act in the Gazette,
Shall be respectively received for all purposes as evidence of the date of such proclamation, and of such assent, and shall be judicially noticed.
When a Bill for continuing a temporary Act has been introduced into Parliament, and is still pending at the date of the expiration of such Act, such Bill, upon receiving the Royal assent, shall, unless the contrary intention appears therein, be deemed to have taken effect in continuing such temporary Act on and from the date…