The Short Title of this Act is “The Statutes Compilation Act, 1908.”

This Act is a consolidation of the enactments mentioned in the Schedule hereto.

Whenever both Houses of the General Assembly by resolution direct the compilation with its amendments of any Act in force in New Zealand, it shall be the duty of the Solicitor-General, so soon as may be possible after the termination of the session in which such resolution was passed, to prepare a compilation embodying all the provisions of such Act and the amendments thereof, omitting all those portions of the text of such Act which have been repealed or altered by subsequent Acts, and inserting in the proper places all words or sections substituted for or added to the text of the original Act by such subsequent Acts, with marginal reference notes citing section and Act; and he shall add to such compilation an appendix showing the Acts and sections of Acts comprised therein.

In preparing such compilation the Solicitor-General shall make such consequential and other alterations in, additions to, or omissions from the text as in his opinion are necessary in order to give effect to implied repeals, to secure uniformity of expression, and generally to allow of the compilation being enacted as an Act of the year of enactment; and shall indorse upon such compilation or attach thereto a memorandum directing attention to every such alteration, addition, or omission, and stating, where necessary, the reason therefor.

Such compilation shall be forwarded to the Clerk of Parliaments by the Solicitor-General, with a certificate under his hand that the same is a true and correct compilation of such Act and the amendments thereof; and thereupon the Clerk of Parliaments shall cause the same to be printed, and shall forward a copy thereof to the Speaker of each House, who shall lay the same on the table at the commencement of the next succeeding session.

Such compilation may at any time thereafter be enacted in manner following, that is to say:—

For the purpose of facilitating the enactment of Bills prepared by the Commissioners acting under “The Reprint of Statutes Act, 1895,” and of consolidating Bills prepared by the Government, the provisions of the last preceding section shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to every such Bill.

If before the passing of an enacting statute both Houses of Parliament by resolution direct the printing for public use of any such compilation, then in printing the same the word “Compiled,” and figures denoting the year of compilation, shall be placed at the head of each page thereof next after the designation of the Act, as, for example, “Regulation of Elections (Compiled 19),” and a copy of every such compilation shall be bound up with the volume of statutes of the session in which such resolution is passed, next after the statutes of such session.