#1Feb 20th, 2007
I like to read statutes for fun (ok not really for fun) and I've noticed that MOST of the statutes are bereft of preambles and enacting clauses. Scanning through the Acts beginning with "a" I noticed that out of 30 of them only 12 had enacting clauses. I wasn't about to go through all 638 Acts just yet. I was just wondering if such omissions could be seen as making those particular statutes non-enforcable. The Interpretation Act requires that all Acts shall have an enacting clause whether there is a preamble or not.

Supporting info:
Quote:

CANADIAN CONSTITUTION: IV. LEGISLATIVE POWER

17. There shall be One Parliament for Canada, consisting of the Queen, an Upper House styled the Senate, and the House of Commons.

55. Where a Bill passed by the Houses of the Parliament is presented to the Governor General for the Queen's Assent, he shall declare, according to his Discretion, but subject to the Provisions of this Act and to Her Majesty's Instructions, either that he assents thereto in the Queen's Name, or that he withholds the Queen's Assent, or that he reserves the Bill for the Signification of the Queen's Pleasure.

and
Quote:

INTERPRETATION ACT

ENACTING CLAUSE OF ACTS
Enacting clause
4. (1) The enacting clause of an Act may be in the following form:
“Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:”.

Order of clauses
(2) The enacting clause of an Act shall follow the preamble, if any, and the various provisions within the purview or body of the Act shall follow in a concise and enunciative form.R.S., c. I-23, s. 4.

I'm not a lawyer (whew!) nor a master of this language but it seems there is an obligation to have the Queen or her representative ok the deal through the enacting clause. That there are so many Acts in "force" seemingly without it is bothering me. At the very least the clause isn't shown for some reason which leads me to then ask why would some display it and not others? Are there two levels of 'law' in effect?

Anybody know anything about this?