Implied Repeal - Constitutional Statutes

Constitutional Statutes

In the U.K. case of Thoburn v Sunderland City Council (the so-called 'Metric Martyrs' case), Lord Justice Laws ruled that some constitutionally significant statutes held a higher status in UK law and were not subject to the doctrine of implied repeal and would therefore require Parliament to expressly repeal the Act. The case specifically dealt with s.2(2) of the European Communities Act, but in his judgment, Lord Justice Laws also named the Parliament Act and the Human Rights Act as other 'constitutional statutes' and therefore not subject to the doctrine. Constitutional statutes can still be expressly repealed if Parliament wishes, but unless the words doing so are totally unambiguous, the courts will follow the precedent established in Thoburn.

Express repeal is carried out by judges in the same method as above, however, Parliament or Congress expressly orders judges to allow a statute to prevail over a previous statute.

Under United States law, "implied repeal" is a disfavored doctrine. That is, if a court can reconcile the two statutes with any reasonable interpretation, that interpretation is favorable to one that deems the earlier statute to have been invalidated by the later one.