Law Revision Committee Law of Delta State

LAW REVISION COMMITTEE LAW OF DELTA STATE

1. Citation and commencement. This Law may be cited as the Law Revision Committee Law, of Delta State and shall come into force on the 14th day of February, 2002.

2. Interpretation. In this Law - "Appointed day" means the day of commencemefit of this Law; "Attorney-General" means the Attorney-General of Delta State; "Committee" means the Law Review Committee established under section 3 of this Law; "Enactment" means any provision of an Act, Decree, Law or Edict and includes any subsidiary instrument made thereunder; "Governor" means the Governor of Delta State; "House of Assembly" means Delta State House of Assembly; "Laws of Delta State" mean the Laws of Delta State of Nigeria, 2002 made under the authority of this Law; "Member" means the members of the Law Review Committee and includes the Chairman; "State" means Delta State of Nigeria; "Subsidiary instrument" means any order, rules, regulations, notices, or by-law

3. Establishment of the Committee and appointment of members and quorum. (1) There is hereby established a Law Revision Committee (in this Law referred to as “the Committee”) which shall consist of a Chairman and seven other members (in this Law referred to as “members”). (2) The Chairman and the other members shall be appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Attorney-General subject to confirmation by a resolution of the House of Assembly. (3) The quorum of the Committee shall be four members.

4. Functions ofthe Committee. (1) The Committee shall have the function of collating, revising and updating the Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria, applicable to Delta State or so deemed and the Laws made since the creation of the State provided that Laws or subsidiary instruments made by the House of Assembly since the 29th ?May, 1999 shall only be collated. (2) If for any reason a member of the Committee is unable to perform the functions of his office before the completion of the functions specified in subsection (1), the Governor may appoint any other person to act in his place but the omission to do so shall not invalidate the proceedings or any aspect ofthe functions ofthe Committee. (3) The Committee may act, notwithstanding the absence from the State or the inability of one or more of its members to act. (4) Where the Chairman is absent or is otherwise unable to function, members present shall appoint one among themselves to act in his place.

5. Contents of the Laws of Delta State. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section and sections 4 and 6 of this Law, the Laws of Delta State shall contain - (a) all Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria, in force and applicable to Delta State of the appointed day and all subsidiary instruments made hereunder; (b) all Laws enacted since the creation State up to the appointed day and all subsidiary instruments in force; (c) any English Statute of general application found by the Cpjnmittee which in its opinion shall be in force in the State; (d) a table of contents, a chronological table of enactments and an index. (2) The Committee may cause a different form of printing to be used, so far as it is practicable, in respect of all those enactments included in the Laws of Delta State, 2002 which in its opinion are - (a) State enactments; and (b) subsidiary instruments. (3) Nothing nt this section shall empower the Committee to make any substantial alteration or amendment of any matter in any enactment;

6. Power of the Attorney-General to authorise omission of certain enactment. The Committee may by order specify a schedule of enactments, which shall not be necessary for the Committee to include in the Laws of Delta State 2002 upon the grounds that such enactments are - (a) obsolescent; or (b) of temporary nature; or (c) under revision with a view to replacement; or (d) of restated or personal application.

7. Powers of the Committee. In the preparation of the Laws of Delta State, 2002 the Committee, subject to section 5 (3) of this Law shall have the powers set out in the Schedule to this Law.

8. Validity and operation of the Laws of Delta State, 2002 (1) The Laws of Delta State when brought into force in accordance with seption 9 of this Law, shall be and be taken by all courts and for all purposes whatsoever to be the authentic edition of the Laws of Delta State enacted on or before the appointed day. (2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to imply the validity of any Enactment included in the Laws of Delta State where such enactment is inconsistent with the Constitution ofthe Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 or any other Federal enactment.

9. Bringing into force of the Laws of Delta State House of Assembly. The Governor shall submit a bound copy of the manuscript of each volume of the Laws of Delta, State to the House of Assembly with a Bill for a Law for the adoption and the commencement date of the Laws by the House of Assembly.

10. Laws to be reprinted as introduction to the Laws of Delta State, 2002. This Law shall be reprinted as an introduction to the first edition of the Laws of Delta State, 2002 to be prepared, printed and published on the authority of this Law

11. Repeal. Any other Law made or purported to have been made in respect of the subject-matter of the Laws of Delta State is hereby repealed. LAW REVISION COMMITTEE LAW OF DELTA STATE Powers of the Committee The Committee shall have the power to - (a) omit all enactments which have - (i) been expressly and specifically repealed; or (ii) expired or have become spent; or (iii) have had their full effect; (b) omit all repealing enactments contained in Laws and also all tables and lists of repealed enactments, whether contained in schedules or otherwise; (c) omit all preambles to Laws where such omission is desirable in the opinion of the Committee; (d) omit all enacting clauses; (e) omit all enactments prescribing the date when a law or part of a Law is to come inter operation; where such omission can, in the opinion of the Committee, conveniently be made; (f) omit all amending enactments or parts thereof where the amendments effected thereby have been embodied by the Committee in the Law to which they relate; (g) consolidate into one enactment any two or more enactments which are in pari materia making any alteration necessary thereto ahd affixing such date thereto as may seem most convenient; (h) alter the order of any section of any enactment, and in all cases, where it may appear to be necessary to re-number any section; (i) alter the form or arrangement of any section of any enactment by transferring words by combining any such section in whole or in part with another section or other sections or by dividing it into two or more subsections; (j) divide enactments whether consolidated or not, into parts of divisions; (k) transfer any provision contained in an enactment from that enactment to any other enactment to which the Committee considers that it more properly belongs; (l) add a title to any enactment which may retire it and alter the title or short title of any enactment; (m) supply, or alter marginal notes, tables of contents and correct cross-references for better understanding; (n) shorten and simplify the phraseology of any fenactments; (o) correct grammatical and typographical errors in any enactment and for that purpose make verbal additions, omissions or alterations not affecting the meaning of any enactment; (p) make such formal alterations as to names, localities, office and otherwise as may be necessary to bring any enactment into conformity with the circumstances of any part of the State; (q) make such adaptations of or amendments to any enactment as may appear to be necessary or proper as a consequence of any change in the Coftstitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999; and (r) do all things relating to form and method which to the Committee appear necessary for the perfecting of the Laws of Delta State, 2002.