Rules Publication Act 1953

Rules Publication Act 1953

An Act to make provision with respect to the publication and printing of subordinate legislation and for matters incidental thereto

Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

1.   Short title and commencement

(1)  This Act may be cited as the Rules Publication Act 1953 .

(2)  This Act shall commence on the first day of January 1954.

2.   Interpretation

(1)  [Section 2 Subsection (1) amended by No. 36 of 1958, s. 4 and Sched. 3 ]In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears –

rule-making authority means a person (other than the Governor) or a body of persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, authorized by or under an Act to make statutory rules, however described in that Act;

statutory rule means –

(a) a regulation, rule, or by-law made under the authority of an Act by the Governor or by a rule-making authority;

(b) a proclamation or notice, or an order-in-council, order, or other instrument that fixes the date of commencement of an Act or enactment or that –

(i) repeals or amends; or

(ii) extends, restricts, varies, modifies, or affects the operation of –

the provisions, scope, or application of an Act or enactment; and

(c) an instrument of a legislative character made in the exercise of the prerogative rights of the Crown and having force in this State –

but does not include a regulation, rule, or by-law, or any other instrument of a legislative character, that is made by a local authority or by a person or body of persons having jurisdiction limited to a district, locality, or part of the State.

(2)  If a question arises as to whether an instrument is a statutory rule for the purposes of this Act, that question shall be determined by the Attorney-General, whose decision thereon is final.

3.   

4.   Exemptions

(1)  [Section 4 Subsection (1) amended by No. 39 of 1957, s. 2 and Sched. 1 ][Section 4 Subsection (1) amended by No. 46 of 1991, s. 5 and Sched. 3 ][Section 4 Subsection (1) amended by No. 68 of 1994, s. 3 and Sched. 1 ]This Act does not apply to –

(a) a notice under subsection (2) of this section or a notice under subsection (2) of section five;

(b) .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

(c) .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

(d) a decree under section thirty-five of the Water Act 1957 ;

(e) .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

(f) an order or award, or a decree or decision, of a judicial tribunal; or

(g) an instrument that is exempted from the operation of this Act by the Attorney-General pursuant to subsection (2) of this section.

(2)  The Attorney-General may, by notice in writing under his hand, exempt from the operation of this Act any instrument or class of instruments specified in the notice, if, in his opinion, it is unnecessary or undesirable that the instrument or class of instruments should be numbered and printed in accordance with this Act.

(3)  An instrument that is exempted, by or under this section, from the operation of this Act, shall, if so required by or under the Act under or for the purposes of which it is made, given, issued, or published, be published or notified in the Gazette in accordance with that requirement as if this Act had not been enacted.

5.   Printing, numbering, and publication of statutory rules

(1)  Except as otherwise prescribed by or under this Act, all statutory rules made on or after the date of commencement of this Act shall, forthwith after they are made, be sent to the Government Printer, as prescribed, and shall be numbered, printed, and sold by him, as prescribed.

(2)  Where, by or under an Act, statutory rules (however described in that Act) are required to be published or notified in the Gazette, a notice in the Gazette of those statutory rules having been made and of the place where copies of them can be obtained and containing a statement indicating the general purport or effect of the statutory rules is a sufficient compliance with that requirement.

(3)  Where, pursuant to the regulations, a statutory rule is printed with the omission of any formal or introductory parts, there shall be printed in that statutory rule, in such manner and form as the Attorney-General may approve or direct, references to the Act or other authority pursuant to which the statutory rule was made, the date on which it was made, and the date, if any, on which it is expressed to take effect.

(4)  [Section 5 Subsection (4) amended by No. 99 of 1982, s. 3 and Sched. 2, Pt. II ]A statutory rule, or a reprint of a statutory rule under the Acts Reprinting Act 1979 , that is printed in conformity with subsection (3) of this section shall be deemed to be a copy of that statutory rule or reprint for the purposes of section seven , notwithstanding the omission of any formal or introductory parts.

6.   Citation of statutory rules

Without prejudice to any other mode of citation, a statutory rule may be cited –

(a) by its short title, if any;

(b) by reference to the year in which it is printed and the number given to it pursuant to this Act; or

(c) by the expression "Statutory Rules" or the expression "S.R.", followed by the year in which it is made and the number given to it pursuant to this Act.

7.   Evidence of statutory rules

(1)  [Section 7 Subsection (1) amended by No. 99 of 1982, s. 3 and Sched. 2, Pt. II ]Evidence of –

(a) a statutory rule; or

(b) a statutory rule that has been reprinted in accordance with the Acts Reprinting Act 1979 and of the amendments incorporated in the reprint –

may be given, in all courts and in all legal proceedings and before all persons and tribunals acting judicially, by the production of a copy of the statutory rule purporting to be printed in accordance with this Act or, as the case may be, of a copy of the reprint purporting to be reprinted in accordance with the Acts Reprinting Act 1979 .

(2)  The provisions of this section are in addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions of sections forty-nine , fifty-one , and seventy-three of the Evidence Act 1910 .

8.   

9.   Regulations

[Section 9 Amended by No. 10 of 1992, s. 17 ]The Governor may make regulations for the purposes of this Act, and, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of this section, may make regulations –

(a) regulating the form and manner in which statutory rules shall be printed and numbered;

(b) providing for the printing of all or any statutory rules with the omission of such formal or introductory parts as the Attorney-General or a person who is authorized by him in that behalf may approve or direct;

(c) providing for the appointment, and regulating the functions and proceedings, of a committee to advise the Attorney-General with respect to questions relating to –

(i) the numbering, printing, or publication of statutory rules or any class or description thereof;

(ii) the exemption of instruments from the operation of this Act;

(iii) the preparation and publication of annual volumes of statutory rules; and

(iv) the administration of this Act generally;

(d) providing for and regulating the preparation and publication of annual volumes of statutory rules and the tables and indices (if any) to be included therein;

(e) prescribing the cases or classes of cases in which the exercise of a statutory power by a rule-making authority constitutes or does not constitute the making of a statutory rule for the purposes of this Act; and

(f) providing for and regulating the examination and revision of drafts of statutory rules proposed to be made by rule-making authorities and prohibiting the making by rule-making authorities of statutory rules until the drafts have, in accordance with the regulations, been examined and, if necessary, revised.