Urgent need to bring thousands of laws up to date

The existence of 16 road traffic acts and more than 900 related statutory instruments makes it “extremely difficult” to determine what the law actually is, according to the State’s legal experts.

Complicated legislation covering sexual offences — with some acts going back to the 1880s — also makes it “very hard” to track down what the law is.

The Law Reform Commission said legislation covering these two areas are among more than 3,000 acts in force, a third of which date from before 1922 and the foundation of the State.