FOI 15-24: Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851 (1851 Act)

Our Ref: FoI 15-24

5 March 2024

Freedom of Information Act 2000 

On 20 February 2024 you requested information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) regarding the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851 (1851 Act).  Your request was as follows:    

(i) Please confirm or deny if the 1851 Act has been repealed in its entirety within Northern Ireland.

(ii) If the 1851 Act has not been repealed in its entirety, please provide an electronic copy/pdf copy and or link to legislation.gov.uk of those specific sections that have not been repealed within Northern Ireland.

(iii) If the 1851 Act has been repealed in its entirety please provide the specific legislation that repealed the 1851 Act in its entirety

(iv) If the 1851 Act has been repealed in its entirety by increments please provide a chronology for the years 1970 -2024 of the incremental repeal of the 1851 Act.

Our response

Under section 1(1) of the FOIA, a person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled to be informed in writing by that authority whether it holds information of the description specified in the request. ‘Information’ is defined at section 1(4) as ‘information… held at the time when the request is received’.  

The Assembly Commission holds some information about changes to the 1851 Act made by legislation introduced to the Assembly in 2015.  This information is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the FOIA because it is reasonably accessible to you by other means. You can access this information here.

The Assembly Commission does not hold information on the repeal of the entirety of the 1851 Act.  If you require advice on provisions of legislation currently in force in Northern Ireland, a solicitor may be able to assist you.

Further information

You have the right to request an internal review of this decision by the Assembly Commission. If you wish to request such a review, please write to me at the above address.  If, after that review, you are dissatisfied with the way in which the Assembly Commission has handled your request for information, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Your request for information and our response may be published in the disclosure log maintained by the Assembly Commission under a publication scheme agreed with the ICO. The request and our response will be anonymised.

Data Protection and Governance Officer