Short and long titles: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:30, 16 March 2005

Revision as of 08:58, 14 July 2005

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Like other descriptive components of an act (such as the [[preamble]], section headings, side notes, and long title), the short title seldom affects the operative provisions of an Act, and rarely contains a sufficiently clear statement of [[Parliament]]'s intention to resolve issues where operative provisions are unclear or ambiguous.

Many early Acts were enacted without a short title, and the long title was used to identity thetthat Act, although short titles were given to many of the extant Acts at later dates. For example, the [[Bill of Rights]] was given that short title (without a year) by the [[Short Titles Act 1896]]; previously, it was known by its long title, ''An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown''. The long title for older Acts is sometimes termed its [[rubric]] because it was sometimes printed in red.

An example of a lengthy short title is the "Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Act (1868) Amendment Act (1879) Amendment Act 1880". Some Acts have more than one short title: the Small Debts Act 1846 (9&10 Vict. c.95 (1846)) is also known as the County Courts Act 1846.